The Biggest Mistake Newbies Make

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Being not much then a newbie myself, and after surfing in the forum for some time, I found that the BIGGEST MISTAKE NEWBIES MAKE is.... searching for a shiny button that fills their bank account tomorrow!!!

Let's take just a small sample: in the last 7 days I found at least 12 new threads like this: "Help! I'm new in IM. Where do I start?" or something similar.

Clearly, after you read the posts in the threads, you find that they're not *really* newbies... they've been around for some months or something, spend money on Shiny Magic Buttons and discovered that:

a) there are no shiny magic buttons
b) there are a lot of things to do and learn before making the first $1
c) the amount of information they need to absorb is huge
d) everything must be done tomorrow before the course sold, before Google changes its algorithm, before the competitors also learn the trick, before the price rises, before, before...

It's just terrifying! So the majority of the newbies follows one of two ways:

1. Give up, the internet marking is not their arena (the majority, according some statistics)
2. Start searching for help, for someone that can indicate the path and give them a recipe (most of them end up in WF). And this is not bad.

BUT

Once for all, Internet Marketing is like any other business:
first, you plan
second, you find out what you need to learn to accomplish the plan
third, you need to take ACTION
fourth, you must work for a certain period of time, measuring your business, and do not expect brilliant results in the first 4-5 weeks
fifth, know your numbers and make adjustmens

This is a business, not a lottery with some "tricks" to win the big prize.

Manage your time (leave only a little for forum digging and to read free e-books or attend free webinars, INSTEAD USE THE TIME TO WORK), manage your numbers, keep your expectations and you'll get there.

Cheers

Jorge
#main internet marketing discussion forum #biggest #make #mistake #newbies
  • well said!

    many newbies would do themselves a great service to take the time to absorb what you've expressed here.

    they should be thanking you for pointing out a necessary truth.

    adam
    • [2] replies
    • i agree, jbento.

      one of my biggest problems when i first started was subscribing to email lists!

      yes, i have learned a TON, but initially, i was just running from one pre-launch content video to the next. i had a boat load of info coming my way, so much that i spent no time implementing it.

      so in addition to jbento's advice, i would add:

      unsubscribe to all but about 4-5 lists and then actually use what you learn.

      don't worry. you won't be missing out on much more than 15 different emails a day about the same launch.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
    • Absolutely. Very good post. Newbies take note! I wrote about the 'magic button' idea in my blog recently. I call it Magpie Syndrome.

      There are no quick fixes that work long-term.
  • Hi Jorge,

    Simple yet powerful advice.

    Here's an example for the 9-5 crowd which is new to network marketing. Imagine the amount of thought, planning and action it takes to build a company which can afford to pay out salaries of $100,000. The company's founder(s) spent years planning and putting plans into action before they built a prosperous corporation.

    How long do you think that it'll take you to make $100,000 on your own? Weeks? Months? This is no different than any other business. Maybe you're not building an entire company but there's an art to this guys, and it takes time and effort on your part to master this art. Time meaning months to years and effort meaning some 12 - 18 hour days unless you're creative or network with the power players right off the bat.

    Devote most of your waking hours to your business endeavors and you become successful Decide to search for a magic button or throw in the towel and you wind up like the majority of people. Unhappy and fairly broke.

    Eventually you find the magic button after months or years of trial and error, networking and persistent content creation. Keep going until you do.

    Ryan
    • [1] reply
    • I agree wholeheartedly with Ryan. This is my first post here at the WF and it has only been about four months that I have started my 'online business adventure', and after many 'desperate newbie attempts' only very recently I sat down and wrote an actual 'business plan'.

      The idea for writing a plan came after reading Maria Veloso's "Web Copy That Sells". I realized how words can be cleverly manipulated to convince someone that an online business is different from a brick and mortar one and that we can make $100,000 in 24 hours. This is why it is easy for we newbies feel disappointed with our own results ($0 in 24 hours in most cases) when we compare.

      So I believe it is of utmost importance to dedicate some time to write a business plan even if we haven't ever done one. But I can tell you this plan will be huge eye opener because it allows us to set realistic expectations and better control the initial newbie rush and later burn out.

      Don't know where to start? Coming from a programming and development background I am not (yet) a business expert but my plan contains these elements right now, and you can use them if you want:

      1. Time-line that shows your income estimates (how much money you want to be making by which deadline - e.g. I want to be making $300/month from my online business by September 1st 2010). I chose a 2 year period split into 4 month sections (i.e. a total of 8 deadlines). Realistic is the keyword here.

      2. Income sources. Here write 2 or 3 methods that you have read or are curious about that you will use during this period to reach your goals. Don't write more than 3. Focus is the keyword here.

      3. Strategic Advantages. Sounds fancy but it is just a list of things that you personally are good at or factors that you can use in your advantage for building an online business (e.g. technical know-how, fast learning, etc.)

      4. Opportunity Areas. The complement to #3, here you write the traits or factors that work against you (e.g. limited business knowledge, no copy writing skills). These are a good wake up call and will later help you integrate time to improve yourself in your schedule.

      5. Sub-plans. From here onwards you make sections that include in detail what you will be doing in each of the 4 month sections of your time-line. Your work and learning schedules and your success metrics should be clearly indicated (e.g. an income metric of $300/month means sales for around $80/week)

      Perhaps you say $300/month sounds measly? Sounds a heck a lot better than $0/month to me, specially when you have some plan to back it up. It is trial and error as some other warriors in this thread have mentioned, but having a plan allows you to focus so much more instead of jumping around from one GRC scheme to another.

      To your success!
      • [1] reply
  • Trial and error is part of the learning process. The true sign of success is if you can always get back up again after being knocked down 1, 10, 100 times and be ready to fight again.

    Education is "supposed to" help prevent some of the common knock-downs but I don't know what it is about this business, but the trials/errors are super high ratio to successes. Maybe it was because I had previous successes without much effort in business but man some days its hard to get back up. But I do.

    So should the newbs.
  • Good point about the "education is supposed to help"

    Newbies do need to learn how to get started but I think we all keep learning as time passes anyway.

    You can't learn it all first so don't try to!

    "Education" just helps to shorten the learning curve for whatever you want to do, you then just have to get on with it and sadly that's where a lot get stuck?

    "DING DING!!" Round 101 here we come - Now get back in there and do something,

    best of luck,
    Neil
  • Learning is part of the job. Nowadays, it everything happening so fast, if you do not learn everyday you fall behind and it may be a difficult train to catch again

    yes, Anjine, subscribe fewer lists, selecting those that provide real value, it's very important, because you can easily spend hours reading mails, watching videos and studying e-books and reports. Most of them of no use, just more shiny buttons with nothing of value behind.

    But, the main problem, is lack of action. Even when we get some gold nuggets in the freebies we get we always need to do some work. But if the newbie is intoxicated with shiny promises, instead of taking action building a business he's going back to scanning emails and surfing the internet looking for some "shortcut" to success.

    Education is not only studying reports or listen to webinars. Every time we do something, we fail, we analyze what went wrong and we start again, man, that's powerful education.

    If you have a plan, you check your progress against the plan, you analyze what you did wring and tomorrow you'll do it better so you can keep with the plan, that's tremendous education.

    Like someone said, if you fail to plan you're planning to fail.

    And remember: don't spend years trying to create a perfect plan. You plan can be as simple as getting 20 new visitors to your blog next week and on Friday... re-write the plan. But even it it is as simple as that, keep to the plan!

    Cheers

    Jorge
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • The internet is such a weird world. For whatever reason, people find the internet to be like I imagine the old time gold rush was. You pack you're stuff, head out west and start pulling gold out of the river.

      Of course some people will hit the jackpot right out of the gate and make it big. But some people will also be struck by lightning.

      I am no different. I got caught up in the gold rush mentality. And of course, a lot of marketers feed this kind of mentality.

      Sad part for me is that I already owned a small business. I should have known better.

      Like any business, it takes strategic hard work. I say strategic because there must be a plan behind the work.

      It takes testing and tweaking. It takes time and money. It takes dedication to following the systems.

      and a lot of times, it takes countless failures.
  • Jorge, you just blew the lid off every internet
    marketing sales copy ever written. How will the
    gurus make money now since you spilled the beans
    on the "silver bullet" myth?

    Excuse me for my sarcasm, but you're totally right.

    There's no such thing as a silver bullet or "make money on
    autopilot in the next 20 seconds no work involved"...

    Success takes time, effort, money, sweat, tears and lots and lots
    of patience...

    Igor
    • [2] replies
    • Well, as I told in the first post, I'm not so far away from being a newbie, so the memory of chasing shiny buttons it's still very fresh in me... and in my credit card bill

      And you know that there always be a lot of newbies (thousands every day) that start the running for the El Dorado and only start looking for true advice when they bump with their heads on the wall.

      And Rich just put the finger in the wound: they not even finish reading the courses and ebooks they buy! As soon as they finish the first chapter, where they are again promised with the land of untold riches for little of no effort, and the second chapter includes the word "work" more then 5 times, there they go again. "This is not for me, there are for SURE easy ways to get the money".

      I was like that just few months ago. So many books I read, so many sites I started, by as soon as some hard work was needed, day after day, week after week, until the results start come, I just gave up.

      Anik, the PPC guy, says this is like pushing a rock up to a mountain. First you are pushing it climbing the mountain. If you get it to the top, then it will comes down with no effort, you just let it roll. The problem is that the majority of the people, as soon as the climbing starts, try another mountain or go looking for a lighter rock.

      I feel like I'm taking a pause in the climbing, but when I look back, boy, I'm getting high in the mountain.
      • [1] reply
    • This is the most right and truth comments. All we need is researching and experienced, with the heart of never give up and you'll be success.
      Good luck to you and all the best.

      More detail for IM can look for Kok Choon warrior, he had lot of experienced and ideas on IM.
  • Yup the shiny button syndrome is one of the biggest problems for any newbie internet marketer, but for me the biggest mistake they make is because of these shiny buttons, they never finish any of the courses they buy and especially don't take action on what they actually learn.

    It was certainly my biggest problem when I first got into the IM world but thankfully came across a nifty pair of blinkers!
    • [1] reply
    • As a fellow newbie I can agree. I have spent a fair amount of time getting a wide variety of information shoved done my throat. It has gotten to the point that I had to place a note on the wall behing my pc, to remind me not to submit my email.

      If I could offer one piece of advise to my fellow newbies, it would to be "Think local"....

      There's to many IM/AM operating globally, but how many are truly focusing on local/regional nitches.....
  • this... You also need some type of organization and innovation. But you hit the nail on the head. I'm pretty sure we were all on the same boat until we found a golden nugget of sorts that worked.
  • It's hard not to get sucked into that mindset when you're new. All the products that cater to people looking to make money on the internet make it seem like it's so easy you can do it and be full time this month.

    That's why there's such a high burn out rate among new IMer's in my opinion. People think they will be rich tomorrow, but then realize that it's not as easy as the slick sales page said, so they bounce around from product to product thinking that next one will be, THE ONE.

    ITS A BUSINESS, not a scheme, it can be done, but it takes time and hard work.


  • I wonder if I could sell these?

    • [2] replies

    • Nah. First you would need to remove the word "sorta," then you could sell trainl-loads. It would be more popular than the "Pet Rock" was.

      :-Don
    • You probably could!
  • I couldn't be more agree. Nothing is as easy as gurus usually claims.

    I'm a newbie myself and probably when I stop from being one, something new will come out and I'll start the newbie road again.

    You never stop learning. And the very first lesson I learned was That only hard work will give you real results.

    Set a Goal and focus your efforts to achieve that goal, walk the road until you are good to run and don't try to take shortcuts because you will end swamped.
  • I have done nothing but fail all my life at trying to do something successful. I keep trying because the option is just, I don't know, I guess kill myself or just let myself die. I figure I got nothing to lose so I keep trying.
    • [1] reply
    • Yeah, and now you can simply reap the financial rewards of your new book "How To Not Get Sucked Into the Hole (Of Buying Into Every New Guru) That Comes Along!"
  • Hi Dear,
    I love what you said.It is direct to point.I think the problems here are the availablities info to the newbies.
    If any newbies must succeed in our kind of info world he/she must divide his/ her time into three.
    reading time
    thinking time
    action time
    Without which the newbie will not make it.Success in life must be planned with action taking becuase reading alone has never made anyone a success.It is what you apply that can make the diffrence.
  • Thanks JBento for a reality check. While the forum is great, it is also being used and tested against us all. I almost got sucked into a $500 promise for 5k per month last week. I am a marketing professional with a real day job, but a true newbie here. I think for myself and others it's good to have mature and real advice which includes what I feel works for ME outside on my day job. If you perform one way at your day job, check yourself-- how are you going to apply yourself in a new start up? Here is what I feel works for me and comes naturally to me:

    hard work (it doesn't have to be all day long, but if you are in the zone, stay there until you can't work anymore. use your best waking hours for pursuing your mission/dream. Oh and balance is key. if you work too many hours it's bad for your mind and your general health. translation is no balance and that leads to a host of other issues and problems. my point is use your best time for the dream)
    perseverence (when the going gets tough, the tough get going. take a break, accept the day or issue as one that is present but will pass over)don't give up [/B](if you have an entreprenurial spirit you won't give up. learn from your mistakes and see the dream. you will know if it's for you or not-- and if it is, try until you succeed.
    networking (find likeminded individuals with experience that you can build a trusting and respectful relationship with. like here for one example. you may find a mentoring relationship-- it is my hope so)
    continuing education (keep studying and pick up some of the top seller material on topics-- people who have made it. )

    Be Prepared I borrow this from the Boy Scouts because it is so simple yet larger than life good advice. Do the homework and have a firm grasp of the essentials before letting all these tempting tacky sites for big money suck you in. Do your due dilegence and get to work! Btw, I think those sites will wear thin eventually. People will catch on. Hopefully so!

    Okay that is my final edit
    Best Wishes!

    the REAL newbie
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • "you get out what you put in" is one of those saying you hear so often, it goes in one ear and out the other.

    but it's true.
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  • very unfortunate for most newbies. i was also like that when i started out looking for the holy grail to making all the money there is to make within 24 hrs.

    i bought almost every book only to dump most of them because i get confused more with different techniques that were being explained by different "gurus'

    if i had not stop reading all those books and concentrate on just a particular way of doing this IM stuff im sure i'll still be struggling today

    what i did was to use just a book from the many i had to navigate into making my fist 10$ income but i was determine and beside the feeling of making my first money wouldnt allow me to give up. just one strategy and one ebook changed everything about my internet marketing

    and ever since i have steadily grow my biz and my thoughts toward what im is all about

    so to every newbie be persistent, stop reading every book that comes your way on how to make money, be focus, patience must also be part of your watch word and the sky will be your begining
  • I would tel my past newbie self to:

    1. Stop reading blogs so much
    2. Don't over complicate things
    3. Learn copywriting
    4. Just do it
    5. Do work everyday even if it's just 60 minutes of IM
    6. High speed of implementation of ideas

    Oh well, live and learn huh.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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    • But if you don't get suckered in by that shiny magic button and you are still a relative newbie (18 months here and only a couple of checks through Adsense), what is recommended to quicken the learning process? Sure, I could go through each of the posts here on the forum (and I am working on them one at a time) but if I wanted to speed up the learning, what would you recommend?

      ie Chris Farrell's course (which if you go through the videos he wants you to spend money and be part of his membership and to get Aweber), or Ed Dale's 30 Day Course (although the video course is free they want you to purchase Market Samarai), or Bum Marketing? So you write a great article... but does it lead directly to a squeeze page or does it lead directly to the affiliate link or to your own website? Then exactly how do you create a squeeze page? Is that squeeze page only to generate names/emails for a specific product (ie solar power)? Am I better off to write articles or a blog to attract traffic? Does that blog only hit a single keyword per post? How is blogger best setup? What about the templates for attracting Adsense in Wordpress?

      The questions go on and on and on for us newbies. Yes, I believe in working on one thing at a time just like having a magnifying glass concentrating until it burns a flame on a piece of paper but at the same time, when you don't have a guidebook to go by, where do you start and whose shiny magic button do you push?
      • [2] replies
    • These are so simple but really hits the spot for a newbie like me. I spend so much time educating myself by reading tips and blogs. I keep thinking and rethinking what I want to do but my blog is sitting there untouched.

      7. don't procrastinate

      I think I need to put this list on my wall..
      • [1] reply
  • yeah i love the last one

    live and learn!
  • Many are not willing to 'fail' and try stuff, they want a business-in-a-box that works on autopilot without effort that makes them tons and tons of money. That won't happen, yes you can make passive income online but it's a process and you need the right systems. So newbies get information overload they want easy results and are frustrated becuase they don't know were to start and do nothing. And then the cycle goes over again and buy the next shiny object. IM is just direct marketing, you need to understand the fundamentals of marketing, I recommend you read Commonsense Marketing by Drayton Bird, a great book.
  • Similar to an overweight person wanting a "diet plan" in-order to loose weight instead of educating themselves on how to eat correctly, exercise and what the body does with fat, carbs and protein.
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  • Sue

    Not criticizing the newbies here. Instead, trying to help them and give some advice. I still consider my self as a newbie. What I posted comes directly from my own experience.

    It's true that the marketing messages promises gold and, most of the times, don't deliver. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to teach anyone saying "Buy my course. I'll teach you how to work very hard, make your first dollar after 4-5 months of working and, with commitment and perseverance, in a year or so you may forget your 9-5 job"

    Wow, that would be quite a sales success, right?

    The question is: how can we help newbies? How can we tell them "STOP! Shiny buttons don't work"?

    But, I tell you, they know. I knew it, you know it and, if we read the answers in this thread, sooner or later we all know it. The question is that you must change your mindset. Even knowing that there are no shiny buttons, you still have a secret hope that someone will show you the treasure arc.

    Look at the posts: "I'm newbie, need help", "How to make 2.000 every month?", "Shall I go for Adsense or Affiliate?" and so on... you then look at the profiles and you see they joined the Warriors 5 months ago, 8 months, even 2 years... they're not so "newbies", they're just desperate.

    I made a post in some other forum with this mindset. After spending almost 3,000 dollars in trash I just wanted to find something to recover the money... you know the feeling? It's just like playing roulette... "Maybe next bet will win the money I already lost".

    I started this thread because I want people to stop and think.

    This is a business. Low investment, simple concept, possible good earnings. But still a business. There are people that can help us to do it right and shorten the learning path. But we must look and search for guidance, results and praise. And not search magic tools, secret techniques or empty promises.

    That's the message I want to give. Plan, work, study. Search for people that is successful and aims to teach, not for those selling the next big thing.

    Cheers

    Jorge
    • [1] reply
    • Jorge,
      Yes, I agree with you. I know you're not really criticising us newbs, because, well, it's recognising the same mistakes we have all made. It's just easier to see it after a while.
      But honestly, most newbs cannot distinguish between a shiny button and a potentially successful pathway - they just haven't been around long enough.
      It is a problem, and it's hard to find a solution because there are so many voices out there vying for the attention of the gullible newbs. (And yes, good business practises will apply to online businesses, once newbs know how to go about things.)
      I have one possible idea. Perhaps newbs with great online business ideas can team up with veterans who know how to drive traffic, etc, into a sort of co-operative. That way each one learns and profits, without much of the risk of loss caused by ignorance.
      Anyone else think of anything constructive?
      Sue
      :rolleyes:
  • Sue, I agree with you. As a real estate investor, I had to read through ebook after ebook to gain some knowledge. At some point I had to decide which path to choose (ie lease option, land contract, renting, buy and hold, Sub2, rehabs, flipping, etc...). It was all mind boggling and there were too many paths to choose from. It seemed that each path had its own guru and there were gurus who could sell you on an overall package. From there you could go to a seminar and have individual one on one mentor sessions. The only one's who succeeded were the folks who actually went out and did something (I've done half a dozen rehabs and another gentleman who started just about when I started hasn't done a single deal yet). Action!!!

    Those that tend to learn fastest have a mentor. They also learn from the mentors mistakes and they themselves don't duplicate as many of those same mistakes. Look at it this way. Everyone was a newbie at some point. There are useful tools to have in IM and some of us newbs are just looking for a little help in finding that path and using the correct tools rather than making all the mistakes, possibly getting frustrated, and leaving IM altogether. I'm in that newbie soul searching phase right now, trying to read the latest info and looking for what tools would best serve IM. It sure would be nice for someone to lend a guiding hand, show how money can be made, and then we can duplicate the actions.
    • [1] reply
    • Sue

      That idea is a good idea. Maybe not as a "partner" in terms of working with the "newbie", otherwise the more experienced people can help only one person at time, but through a coaching or mentoring program.

      Let's say, the coach or mentor would help to establish the basis of the business, pointing directions, and the "newbie" has to build on top of that. It's his business after all. Then the mentor/coach will be there to help choosing the best techniques, where to go from one point to another, what to avoid, where to focus and checking the plans.

      Basically, someone that teaches at the same time the newbie builds a business and even start get some money. Because he must DO something, the mentor will "force" him to take action.

      Not just a course or webinar about Youtube video, or article writing or any specific technique or type of business. Like a continuity program where the newbie defines his business and the mentor will be there, giving advice and introducing techniques and strategies. But at the end of the day, it would be the newbie that has the decision on what to do, how and when.

      Does this makes sense?

      Jorge
  • By the way,

    if you click on the first link in my signature you'll go to my blog where you can have access to a free training from Alex Jeffreys about the topic of running a business and changing from Prospect to Marketer.

    Jorge
  • Lots of newbies do not understand that websites are the exact same as real business.

    - have a business plan
    - research your competitors, industry, keywords, etc
    - etc, etc.

    SEO on it's own and getting backlinks will not make you money

    you need to have a product and a professional sales strategy to guide customers though the sales process

    it is not simple and many people waste their time
  • I always apreciate this kind of guidance. thanks!
  • I think the biggest mistake is a failure to take action.

    This underlies all the rest of the information posted here. People do not want to put in the time to make the money just get it handed to them and thats why so many market to this trait.

    After training hundreds of people this is the biggest thing I see.

    They want to solve their money problems but will not do the work and this is why they probably have money problems in the first place.

    They usually come out of a job where the boss motivated them and now with no one kicking their ass they do nothing or the wrong things which they could learn from but don't know how.

    Q
    • [1] reply
    • You've scored a point here Quentin. And this is true in all business, if you do it by yourself.

      I'm self employed for the last 11 years and, boy, sometimes you have to search for motivation. And I can assure that money, by itself, is a great motivator but sometimes is not enough.

      If you are used to work for a boss and you receive your payment check on time, you don't create a need to think strategically or to plan ahead. Oh, you can work for a promotion or for an extra bonus, but when you're working for yourself you must learn how to do today what will pay your bills in 4 or 6 months.

      You learn to plan because you learn that everything takes time to flourish. The new product, the new marketing campaign, the new employee, everything takes time to produce results.

      And, of course, when you come to IM and find hundreds of claims that you can be rich by the end of the week you jump on that with eyes closed. And even if the information you bought is valuable, you just don't have the patience to wait... you want results tomorrow and, in your e-mail, everyday new promises of instant riches.

      That's what happened to me and to a lot of others. It's not just the lack of action. It's the realization that you need to take a LOT of action and wait, maybe, a lot of time for the results. You feel cheated. You believed it would be done by tomorrow. When you bought the e-book you believed you would work for two hours a day and you would make a lot of money.

      "Work two hours a day and make 2.000 a month" It's true IF you say "Work two hours a day and after 4-6 months, if you do it correctly, you'll make 2.000 a month".

      There always be newbies that search for the gold with the dream to find a mine tomorrow. Some will understand, sooner or later, that is not that easy, it takes time, and they need to learn. Those are the ones that seek guidance and find themselves a coach. Others just give up, after spending a lot of money, and blame the gurus, the bad luck, the government, Google, etc. Those are 90% or more of the newbies.
  • Having the right mindset is important too

    "What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve." ~ Napoleon Hill

    “Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.” ~ Henry Ford
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  • A good maxim is "Any action is better than no action" In most situations where you have to make a decision any action is better than no action.

    If you make a mistake you can learn from your mistakes and move on if you don't take action you will never learn anything
  • My comment is obviously bias, but I like it when people entering internet marketing where previously they are bloggers. I was a blogger myself. As blogger you don't care much about money. You do blogging because you love it. With this mindset and ethic, moving to internet marketing won't be a problem. No hardwork required. Why? Because you don't feel it like hardwork. It's part of the thing that you love.
  • This is all good. It took me a while, but I finally quit listening to all the hype about instant success and developed the proper mindset and learned the skills I needed.
    • [4] replies
    • Sue did a great job of defending the newbie, or explaining why the newbie behaves this way but I want to share my introduction into this world with you.

      I got sucked in by an internet marketer whose ad promised that I could make almost 100 a day just by posting her product on Craigslist. She did a really good job of selling this through her "free ebook" and I was convinced. Sort of. I mean, I know if it sounds too good to be true, it must be, I learned that...but I was so damn curious as to how the internet marketing world worked and the investment was small. I was prepared to lose my money. But at the same time, I didn't want to lose my money.

      I had no desire to do anything more than post the ad on Craigslist and watch the money roll in. I found out quickly, like that night, that I couldn't post more than three ads on Craigslist in a day.

      I emailed her and the reply was "oh well, things change, but fortunately Craigslist is not the only place to advertise". Maybe not, but that had been the selling point that nabbed me so I was already feeling cheated.

      I kept trying Craigslist and I also bought into some mailing lists that had a money back guarantee. This just turned out to be a whole lot of work for absolutely NO reward. I tried getting my money back from the mailing list owner. Surprise, surprise, no one ever emailed me back and I tried five times.

      And I didn't, still don't, want a squeeze page or any of the other products that first IM keeps trying to sell me. I REALLY JUST WANTED TO POST ON CRAIGSLIST AND WATCH THE MONEY ROLL IN AS WAS ADVERTISED.

      So if newbies are making BIG Mistakes, and clearly they are, it is because they are being fed the bull---- right off the bat, so how can they not make those mistakes? Are those mistakes avoidable? Are there people on this forum who did not fall prey in the beginning of their journey? That's not what I'm hearing.

      I consider my blunders a learning experience, and a pretty cheap one at that...but I'm a pretty quick learner.

      And to those that consider people who expressed an interest in IM months ago, perhaps by registering with this forum or taking another first step, experienced..that's not necessarily the case. I guess newbie is a subjective term.

      Me, I haven't had a lot of time to poke around and learn. Until now. Glad I found this forum.

      ep
    • now I haven't read this thread in its entirety, so this might have already been mentioned but -- finding that great idea to drive you is huge. Or... finding whatever thing that drives you. You need to cross that threshold, that point of no return. It will become much easier, then - because you have passion for what you do.

      Hope that made sense. It's 4am here so I'm kinda dizzy...
    • This is a very good point. Too many newbies come online thinking that making money is just putting the web site up and the money comes rolling in. To make matters worse there are so many make money eBooks that a newbie would just fall in the trap of buying book A to Z, overloading themselves with information along the process, and as a result just don't take action. Those who do just don't know the right direction to get started.

      Running an online business in just the same as running an offline business. It requires strategic planning, and yes understanding the fundamentals is a must. Might check out the book.
      • [1] reply
    • There are several mistakes (we all) have made, but by far the one that makes the biggest difference and holds people back from really making it big...

      Not Learning the Fundamentals of Marketing!

      Marketing is not just telling people what you have, rather it is a mindset that you must have before you even come up with your business idea...the mindset is that you must figure out what your customers will buy and match that to a strength or interest you have RATHER than trying to push what you think the world needs or wants (which almost never works)

      Unfortunately - there are extremely few people willing to give themselves up to having the mindset of going where the customer takes them rather than trying to always push customers into doing what they want.

      Jeff
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Wow...nice post you got here.
    Am a newbie and done all that before i finally "hit the jackpot"

    Newbies please "TAKE ACTION"!
    • [1] reply
    • Editing post because I misread the above. Sorry. Thanks for pointing that out, Jorge.


      ep
      • [1] reply
  • That is a very good advice. It really takes effort and time to reach a point where you reap the rewards, I have also learned that myself. When I started, it sounded like I was going to make huge amounts of money on the following day, but it was not so.

    It is important therefore, for newbies to apply what they have already learned about the internet business instead of always running after new things. There is a lot that is offered in the internet, so if you want to grab everything, you will discover that you have lost everything.
  • Nice post,

    If it was not for a friend pushing me i would been under bullet point 1 of haven given up by now.

    Michael
  • Very good post..... Your arguments are well established..... In my opinion, you have given newbies a point in their IM career whether to pursue or withdraw...the road to success is not easy thus it requires a lot of effort and sacrifice. I agree with you that there is no "Shiny Magic Buttons". Just plain hard work and clean money at the end.....
  • Thank you jbento....I started realizing that only after joining this forum......
  • Wow, I agree. I have tried many times over the years to get into IM. I have never been successful in the past because I too wanted a biz in a box that would start pouring in the money. Well that didn't work so well for me! Ha. This time I have done my research and I have a business plan and daily goals. I am taking baby steps and seeing the fruits of my labor albeit slowly. I am dedicated to making this work. I spend of 4-8 hours every day right now on the net either learning or doing. That's ok with me. I would be spending 8 hours a day in an office too.
    • [1] reply
    • I'm doing exactly what you are doing.....well, except for the office thing..... I'm also trying to get a hold of the basics, as of the moment, rather than shifting strategies from time to time.....
    • [DELETED]
  • Another biggie mistake that newbies make:

    Spending more time reading forums then doing tasks that will actually build their business.
    • [1] reply

    • I think it's all on how one manages his/her time..... Doing tasks with an adequate amount of time in a fashionable and orderly manner is the best way to achieve a set of tasks in a given period.... I think this goes the same to all newbies and that also includes me.....

      (Well, What can I say, It's not so long ago when I started this career....)
  • Ha, there are no easy money to earn. Internet marketing is one type of business also. You cannot wait the money drop from sky or your blog or website go to first page in the first day. All you need is do what you so do to promote your blog or website. No hardwork and smartwork = no taffic = no money in internet marketing.
    So, don't sit and wait. To be success must work, don't know have to ask or find the solution.
    Let's success together.
  • The number one mistake Newbies make is start off with a totally opposite mindset required.

    Starting any business requires a certain mindset, thinking about an online business - tell you what, crank up that mindset 10 times and then you'll succeed.

    It aint easy - never was. Most newbies fail to see the prospects of following up on just one business model and instead turn into opportunity seekers buying product after product, not following up any single one of them and even if they do follow on model to the end, they make the biggest mistake anyone could ever make in Online Marketing.

    They realize that didn't work even if they followed the entire model till the end and go after another fad. What they could do instead is analyze what went wrong. That shift alone could save them months and months of time and learning because once they figure out what they didn't do right, they could easily turn things around and make it better till they see success.

    The biggest difference between making $10 a day to a $1000 a day is without a doubt the MINDSET required.

    hope it helps

    Maddi
  • diets don't work and neither do get rich rich quick schemes...there is no substitute for sheer hard work and effort......unless you fancy the odds of 14 million to 1 on the National Lottery!
  • Someone is on pathway to failure whenever he fails to plan.It is obvious clear that people into business without much know how and adequate goals,and such we want to attain some level of success in the speed of light which in most cases becomes unrealistic.success is made on plater of gold,but on dint of hardworking,diligence planning and patience.
    • [1] reply
    • Hey guys

      Thanks to you all for posting your comments in this thread and I hope we gave newbies (and others) some nice stuff to think on.

      To summarize, I think the best advice we can give is:

      1. Learn marketing basics... you must understand how people buy, what they want and what makes them to take the buying decision
      2. Do a plan. Plan your business, your goals, your tasks, your cash flow (yes, it will cost money... maybe not much, but to do it properly you'll have to spend money)
      3. Identify what you want to measure. If you don't measure you don't know how you're doing. Or if it's working. Whatever it is you wanna do.
      4. Take action. Patience, perseverance and commitment will be your biggest assets in the first months.
      5. Test. Measure. Analyze. Split. Test. Measure. Analyze. Split. You've got the idea.
      6. Know your numbers. Try to do better everyday, even if it is 0,5 % better then the day before.
      7. Once your business starts rolling and you start making money, leverage what you know, who you know and what you have. You cannot reach the top alone. Consider building a team, outsource some tasks or JV with marketers with complementary knowledge and skills.
      8. Sometime you'll face something you don't know how to do, how to solve. Go and search for help, tools, information. But keep focused. Don't look around. If your plan is PPC don't waste time and money in other techniques.
      9. Don't forget to have fun. You must take everything is perspective. It's hard, it takes time. So it's better if you have fun along the way.

      Wish you all the best success.

      Cheers

      Jorge
      • [1] reply
  • ..and I was just about to launch an email with ...."Help I'm a Newbie, easiets way to make a $1000 per month please!"

    Now I'm so dissapointed that it actually involves planning, hardwork ect., that I'm considering giving up already!! (not really)

    Good advice and perfect timing for this thread to be my first read!

    So let the hard work(damn) begin!

    Ok, so where do I begin?
  • Yeah, I like your words really much!! Some people want to be successful without any hard effort, it is quite impossible! You must give triple effort in order to get a reward.

    I am also a newbie, I am working very hard, sometimes just have moment want to give up, but I will be cheering myself that "even i have failed, I have nothing to lost. Time? Money? That's all converted into my valuable experience and knowledge! So I have nothing to lost then!"

    "You see the fruits but you never know how to plant a tree! " I have to plant my own tree in order to the the fruits right now!!

    Thank you for your truely words! It's a good lesson! ^^
  • I am a real life newbie to im and willing to put in the work and all that. However it can make you dizzy even knowing where to start from. I'm trying to go backwords in my planning by organizing the type of IM business I want to have. I would like to do one small thing well and and build of of it. Am I on the right track?
    • [1] reply
    • In my humble opinion you're in the right track. Remember Thomas Edison: he just wanted to do one small thing well. You know the history....

      Cheers

      Jorge
  • Some misconceptions here...

    You can have instant success, you just have to utilise your credit card instead of your time. The problem is with most people they want it

    instantly
    free
    No work

    well you can have 1 and 3 if you substitute 2 for pay
  • Hi Gerry

    I liked what you wrote, it's all true, although Robert has a good point.

    In fact, the basics behind this thread is make money, in short time, with little work and for free.

    And what we have been discussing is that it's very, very difficult to play with this 4 pieces because they don't fit together.

    If, in fact, you have money to invest, you can have success in a shorter time and still with little work. You just outsource all your business.

    If you are willing to take the time, with little work you can use free methods but it will take ages. With more work it will be faster but stills need some time.

    So I guess that, for every marketer, we must include another item in our business plan: how much can I invest?

    And the question becomes How to invest wisely? Almost everybody doesn't want to invest much. But, after some time, if we sum all the money spent in e-books, courses and other money-sucking-promises we discover we spent a lot of money. What could we do if we used that money in the very beginning to start a business?

    So, the worse promise gurus make is not "make money tomorrow". Is "make money for free". Is that so?

    Jorge
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    The Biggest Mistake Newbies Make

    Being not much then a newbie myself, and after surfing in the forum for some time, I found that the BIGGEST MISTAKE NEWBIES MAKE is.... searching for a shiny button that fills their bank account tomorrow!!! Let's take just a small sample: in the last 7 days I found at least 12 new threads like this: "Help! I'm new in IM. Where do I start?" or something similar.