Losing Faith in Internet Marketing!!!

Great what you stated, however if he doesn't like doing IM, we can't love it for him. Without the love of this industry, we would all be doomed to failure Will.

On a good note, if he picks himself up, he could reach the top faster than anybody else here! He's just probably bored of the whole thing.

As the saying goes, "If it's to be, it's up to me".

Tip for you Martin: Stop relying on everybody and anybody to succeed! Rely on yourself and the sky is the limit!

Take care,

Bernard St-Pierre
Marketing Consultant
Copywriter/Teacher

Completely agree, Paul... You have to first believe it can be done, then start associating with others that are already successful online.

I think many go for the quick buck initially then realize that to really make it happen, you have to have long-term strategy and build a tribe of followers.

That's where I've found live IM events to be awesome. The networking and business building stuff that I've learned in person have been invaluable.

I used to grill gurus about the internal structure of their businesses, employees, roles, project management, and a bunch of other stuff that's not too glamorous but critical to success and leverage.

Never give up... just find a better strategy.

Try something that no one here has suggested yet. Trying walking away for a little while. Maybe a week, maybe two weeks. But just walk away and regroup. If you're not making money online right now anyway then it won't hurt you financially.


When you come back, UNSUBSCRIBE from every list you are on. Trust me, you really don't need it. You'll just end up reading offer after offer which gets to be a drag.


Keep in mind however; the money is in the list. So when you get back into the IM game, focus on list building and list building only. People will generally stay on your list for around 3 months before they too will unsubscribe. But once you have a list of over 1,000 subscribers you'll start making some revenue.


It could also help if you find a good mentor. NOT another product, but an internet marketing coach. I've been a member of Chris Farrell for a while and I can tell you it's been very helpful.



So to wrap it all up here's some action steps for you:

• Walk away from the IM field for a short period of time and let your mind regroup

• Come back in a week or two and UNSUBSCRIBE from everyone's list you are currently on
  
• Work on list building and list building only knowing that people will unsubscribe for YOU TOO every 3 months.

• Get a mentor, NOT A PRODUCT, a mentor to help you out.

Best of luck to you and all you do.
To your success in 2011

Peace,

Shane

I'll PM you. I'm always looking for good designers bro. Can you handle managing Indian outsourcers to handle the design work? If so, you're really useful to me and a lot of upper-class IMers.

Really you have age on your side too, all of the old people are thinking, "Good grief" when they see you complaining about IM. Try not making money and being 50 and bald on the top of your head. That's when things look grim, lol.

That's all you need IMO. Channeling all the drive you have for the field into a niche (that utilizes your tool kit) should be your focus.

Do I sound preachy? I shouldn't, I'm miserably failing at this IM thing myself. Much like you I have the tools and the drive but there are a LOT of missing pieces. What I know for certain is that there are no simple "one size fit all solutions". I read a thread the other day where a 14 year old kid had his first $200 day. Like he said, "if I can do it so can you."

There are a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people on this forum and they'll make an IMer out of you yet!

Cheers.
Sana

I agree they send watered down over priced BS from Clickbank. I'd unsubscribe from everything that's distracting and giving you info overload.

Then find out what's working, go and gate crash a party and take home a slice of the cake.

I was going to say the first thing you should do is unsubscribe from all those lists you mentioned. A couple years ago, when I still wasn't doing that great, I was subscribed to lists about SEO, PPC, PPV, CPA, and blogging. Needless to say, I would waste a lot of time week after week getting excited by something new one of them emailed me that sounded cool.... but never really putting in any work.

You have to choose ONE guru/method that makes sense to you, and focus on that and put in a couple hours each day of solid work in that direction. It could take months... it could take years to start seeing real results... it did for me. I actually completely gave up a few times but I would come crawling back after a few months because the idea of making money from my computer got me so excited.

If you can design, that is one big advantage you have. I do all my own design work as well ( I can't do anything fancy), and I can think of an idea or landing page and make it myself and be testing it within hours whereas most people need a few days to get their stuff back from their designer.

Focus on your strengths... don't try to learn a bunch of new, unrelated things until you're making money from your strengths.

Hi there, I have to say reading this kinda puts a smile in my face. I remember how I was 5 years ago feeling exactly the same thing and just like you, I have so many ideas that I find it really hard to focus and ends up jumping from one idea to the next and going round in circles.

Thing is, no IM guru out there can help you there. You have to really step aside from all this, set your priorities, understand yourself, know what you want and regroup your thoughts.

Right now, I'm doing pretty well. I have quit my 9 to 5 job and doing IM full-time. Though I'm not making a 5 figure income yet like some IMers claimed to be making. It pays the bills, put food on the table for me and my family and give me more time freedom.

How I finally manage to get here? I kick my ugly habit of subscribing to anyone who claim to be a guru, write down my goals and stick to the plan. It takes work though...and none of those earn in 24 hours BS. In fact it took me nearly a year just to earn my first $1. But things that are hard at first, with practice and diligence will get easy eventually. You just have to persevere and not give up. You will get there.

I know how you feel mate, I am wondering what problem it is that you have? perhaps by looking at the problems you have you can look at fixing them. I am not trying to sell you anything but i am looking to do some work with a designer on combined projects so perhaps we could help each other a bit? if so drop me a message on my site and i will send you my number

This is the main problem all new internet marketers face. There is so much information out there and so many supposed gurus telling you what to do that it gets very confusing, i think the term all the sales letters use is "INFORMATION OVERLOAD" and its exactly why these guys send you out new products every week, be it theres or someone elses.

They know your hungary to succeed and have you exactly where they want you.

There are some simple steps to learn:

1. pick an area of interest for yourself such as "gardening" then break that area down into a smaller niche area say "how to grow rhubarb"

Get on googles keyword tool and do exact phrase matches for these keyword searches, if there is enough interest in that area with little or even better no competition, then find a product to promote to that group of people.

If your gonna enter big niches such as the latest seo software from clickbank or the latest way to make a million in 24 hours "rubbish" then in areas as big as this and with huge competition you have no chance!

Its better to seek out smaller areas and deliver something of quality to that niche, then you will see sales and go from there.

There are loads of experienced guys and girls on here that will keep you right and when you do get going you will quickly begin to enjoy Internet Marketing!

It really is a shame when people are this frustrated and if you keep listening to the ****e from 6 or 7 different email lists your gonna keep going round in circles, pick one area, one product and stay focused!

Good luck!!!

Great advice, Paul.

This is exactly what I've done.

Thanks for those kind but stern words of wisdom, Mr. Paul!

That's when I started to change things, when I stopped looking at the very next best thing to come out.

Oh, and if you guys want an awesome system to get off your a** and start a REAL honest to goodness IM business.

Check out Paul's new IM business plan simply called "The Map"

I did and saying it's amazing isn't coming close to doing it justice!

Thanks for "The Map" Paul. It changed my life.

Seth

nobodyreal Age has nothing to do with it, i'm 55 and I only started making money in the last year..

Martin2010. Don't give up, it's not that Internet Marketing only works for Guru's, that's not true, it just means YOU haven't found a way of making it work YET..

I struggled for a long time part time and full time but persistence pays and eventually once you focus on one thing and do it well, you will crack it

Keith

For a start just unsubscribe to all the time wasters that keep sending you to poor products. Then follow the marketers that are actually offering you good content, just understand you are going to get the odd pitch...

Here is almost a fail proof way to begin making money online.

[+] Create an extremely valuable product that is equivalent to a $47-$97 course.
[+] Create or outsource some amazing graphics and make it look great.
[+] Give it away for free (for the opt-in).

The KEY is to create a product that people want...and are willing to pay for.

You give that away for free.

So if you have 4-5 products you know you can create, the first one gets sacrificed to build your list. Then you use the countless ways discussed in this forum to drive traffic to that opt-in.

You followup with those customers and you give away more value for free. Stuff they really want to know. After gaining their trust you introduce another piece to the puzzle...your first paid product. Charge $17-$27 for this.

Over the course of 6 months, continue to offer great value and drip past 3 more of your own offers. Mix in some affiliate stuff as well.

My advice? Find out something you know that others would love to learn and begin creating that first product.

Works like a charm every time if done properly.

-Rusty

I totally agree with it..

I completely agree with Daniel. Just unsubscribe from any newsletter which don't bother to pay attention or are just wasting your time. I'm sure you would achieve your goal soon.

Hi:
My heart just broke when I read your post.
I've watched my daughter, Tiffany Dow, build her business -- not only on a shoestring, but knowing nothing about Internet Marketing. AND, she did it -- and still does it -- with her ethics intact.
Now, she's trying to teach me -- a Baby Boomer -- how to supplement my pathetic income, and putting together a report on our process to share it with others.
My point is that there are ethical and honest IMers out there.
Don't give up, Martin -- you've put too much time and effort in it for that.
But, if something isn't working for you, try another way.
One thing Tiffany has taught me is that it doesn't cost much to systematically build an online business.
I also looked over "Aldovolcano's" post from today -- I highly suggest you read it. It's about how to become task oriented to build your IM sites.
Don't Give Up!!!
Beverly G.

You shouldn't lose faith bro! That would be going back to square one. First of all unsubscribe from ALL those people you said you subscribed to, it might cause information overload. You can then find out about Michael Dunlop and follow him. He doesn't say crap and I am a witness! I hope this helped.

If what you're giving up on is the dream of making boat loads of money without doing much work or without producing any value, then perhaps it is time. Sure, some people succeed at that. But then, some people win the lottery too. Just not many.

If you're maxed out on your credit cards and behind on your mortgage, then it's probably time to get a job and get back on track. You can keep going with IM in your spare time if you want. But if you're hoping some guru will teach you how to turn things around next week, I'd recommend trying something with better odds.

There's certainly money to be made online. But it takes work, and you've got to create real, solid value. Otherwise, you're at risk of losing your "business" then next time Google tweaks their algorithm, the FTC changes their rules, or a butterfly flaps its wings in Beijing.

As soon as I see that someone is sending me nothing but garbage, I unsubscribe from them.

I've decided I'm not buying any more programs, at least till I start making some real money.

I delete the promotions, and have unsubscribed from everyone but my favorites, and those that provide useful information.

Instead of quitting just because of some desperate fakes, you will be doing yourself a great service by trying to get a mentor who is not only making the real bucks online but will be willing to show you how he does it.

I think that will be better for you at this time.

Good luck!

Well, as far as I'm concerned, loving IM and making money from it are very closely related. It's hard to love IM if you're not making money, as well as it's hard to make money if you don't love IM!

When you're a beginner you always love IM because of all the hype selling you dreams. But if you can't cut through the crap quickly enough and start making some kind of money within a few months, then I can totally understand that the love for IM fades away...

The threads last reply before you bumped it was 3 months ago, and the OP's last post was 5 months ago. You're a little late to the party. :rolleyes:

I've been there, done that! I spend times and money on trying their Cr8p. I decided to keep going and never give up. Yes, unsubscribe and I suggest you start you're on thing...

Like I said to Martin, not everyone 'can' make money. There's only a certain amount of people looking for a certain search term or for a certain type of product and hundreds of internet marketers are going after them. This is true of every niche bro.

But Martin is lucky because he has another skill to fall back on that's valuable-- web design, and on top of that, being able to manage outsourcers. So with you, what if this doesn't work out? Do you have something you can still offer to the market place?

If so, that sure helps with going hard with your IM goals.

The only email from any marketer that I read are those from Paul Myers. To be honest, I only read about half of his newsletters, if that. I rarely buy any product from anyone. If I do buy a product I do research and make sure that the product is actually going to do what the seller says it will, before I buy.

I have said this several times on this forum. I only made a couple of dollars my first 6 months. It wasn't until I found something that I liked doing, and that actually made me money before I started putting some serious time into it. Like many others on this forum the work is now paying off. I am making more than I have ever made before, and it is pretty much all on autopilot.

Hey guys,

the questions I see here are reminding me about my exact situation some time ago.

And I honestly think that there is a huge gap in the IM marketing products because nobody is offering to teach you the basics, all are offering magic methods that will make you millionaires by the end of the month.

This is why started a poll, please contribute and discuss HERE.

Don't forget the majority of "guru's" who send you information on more ways to make money online, make their money online doing just that.

If you read carefully through these very forums, there are many "gold nuggets" so-to-speak, showing you many different internet business models, as well as step by step instructions for doing so. They key is to TAKE ACTION!

Stop reading emails, stop trying to jump on the next big thing, and take a moment to focus on just one of the many ways to create an income with internet marketing.

One of the keys to my success is, and I have heard others mention the same thing, once I had a plan of attack, I stayed away from my email, kept off any forums (unless it was related to my plan of attack, and answering any questions I had therein) and before I knew it, I had a tidy income established.

(If it helps, 2010 was my first full year in IM, and I more then quadrupled any income I have made in years past as a business professional, using methods mentioned here by people like Kenster and others.)

Hope this helps to encourage you in your journey.

I would not say to unsubscribe because staying on the lists allows you to see WHAT they are doing...and the stuff they do works. It's worth being on the lists for that..but most of the things they are selling are not worth buying, thats for sure.

Hiya...

Taking one giant "Leap Of Faith" I chucked in my Full time job, and went part time, last May and decided I was going to CRACK this IM Thing...

I was able to work in my job part time at weekends , this just about paid my mortgage, I did have some savings and probably could have lasted about 6 months on this. I figured, "If i'm still here by Christmas and hadn't returned back to full time working, then I probably could make it in IM.

I spent the first few weeks like a headless chicken. I ran around and made ALL the classic mistakes newbies make.

1) Nibbling at everything, but implementing nothing

2) Thinking that getting loads of people to follow you on Twitter & Facebook was the same as "building a list"...BOY, was this a BIG mistake..

3) Becoming a Webinar "Junkie", overloading the brain cells with TOO much information and in the end, becoming MASTER of nothing...

I had a CLASSIC case of Internet Marketers DISEASE...

"Too Much Movement, but little or NO Traction"...

In other words, a case of "SPINNING WHEELS....

So what did I do and how, after 5 months of MISERY, did I get my FIRST Cheque?

1) I figured it out.... This is NOT ABOUT ME, it's about giving VALUE to other people.

2) Give people GREAT VALUE, and the money will surely follow..

3) Focus on ONE thing at a time, follow it through - learn it, implement it and then and ONLY then, move on to learn another SKILL... yes, IM is a SKILL

I totally focussed on ONE thing and one thing only..

I learnt to build a Wordpress.org Blog and on this Blog, I did a daily series of money making tips... I wrote them in my OWN style, I added humour..

I just kept at it DAY after DAY, after DAY..

I then learned how to MONETIZE the Blog, I then learnt how to drive TRAFFIC to the Blog..

So, this was the equation:

Blog + Great Daily Content + Monetization + Traffic = My first Clickbank cheque, 5 Months after going FULL TIME...

I now get a payment from Clickbank every 2 weeks, I also use other affiliate networks and I will soon be making my own products...

I have made more than 50 videos, I have 2 blogs, 14 Squidoo lenses and a whole heap of Articles... I say this not to boast, just to let you know, you have to be PRO-ACTIVE...

"Build a LIST... offer a free report and give your subscribers great value.

"Success isn't going to come to YOU, you have to GO to it"!

Don't give up or give in, YOUR success is probably just around the corner but it requires WORK... lots of it..

Sorry about the long post..

See you

Keith

Here's some help for you. I learned this from my mentors and it's been crucial to me.

Before you get started (or if you have to start over again), carefully consider/choose your business model.

IM is actually pretty simple: you can sell only one of two things:

1. Products
2. Services

That's it!

And selling products or services online happens in the same basic way for everyone, no matter what they're selling:

Traffic > Opt-in page > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) > Sales page

That's it! It's just that simple. (We IMers tend to overcomplicate things.)

But no matter what your niche is, or whether you're selling a product or a service, do you know what your business model is?

A business model is the framework or skeleton of your business. Essentially there are three types of online business models:

1. Membership-based model

A membership-based business model allows you to build a community of people (your members) who are as passionate about your subject as you are. Your membership fees can be monthly or annual, but either way, you're building recurring, passive income.

There are a lot of resources and information out there to help you build a membership-based business if you're interested in doing this.

2. Product-based model

Selling products allows you to maximize your time and effort by selling items over and over again. This can be hard goods or it can be information products. Information marketing is it's own business model under the product-based model. Information marketing allows you to take your brain to the bank by creating a product ONCE based on what you know and selling it over and over again.

3. Service-based model

Selling services can be great for 1) generating quick cash (as in the case of article writing or video producing) and 2) establishing your expertise and getting testimonials.

However, in the long run, your goal should be to offer services at a PREMIUM. The biggest advantage of IM is LEVERAGE. You're able to leverage your time, money and expertise exponentially online. We all have just 24 hours each day. Time to get ruthless about what you expect for those hours you spend in IM each day. Expect more of yourself and more from your business friends, clients, partners, etc.

What results are you getting for those hours you spend online each day? Ultimately, your services should be at the bottom of your funnel and cost the most since they involve your time and personal attention. (We all have a limited amount of time each day.)

The fun (and confusion) comes in with all of the endless mix-and-match possibilities of the above models. If you're just starting or still struggling to make money, keep it simple:

Pick just ONE!

1. Pick ONE niche. (Something you're interested in and know something about.)

2. Pick ONE target market for your product or service. (Who will buy what you're offering? The more specific you are, the more you narrow it down, the more successful you'll be.)

3. Pick ONE business model.

Now that you're clear about what business you're in, FOCUS!

F -- Follow
O -- One
C -- Course
U -- Until
S -- Successful

In IM, it's easy to put the cart before the horse. Take a deep breath, step back and consider what type of business you're REALLY want. Don't worry about getting traffic or buying that expensive traffic product until you know 1) what your business model is, 2) what niche you're in and 3) WHO your target market is!

Successful business people will tell you that MARKETING is more than half the effort that's needed for success anyway. So pick a niche, target market and business model. Then spend most of your time and effort marketing it.

Hope this helps!

Michelle

real entrepreneurs never give up, Martin.

Did you know Walt Disney claimed bankruptcy many times before he became a success?

the web design business is very competitive. You need to set yourself apart somehow, and you need to get your name known.

Don't give up...
good luck

Pardon my bluntness, but this is pure and utter malarky. Truly HORRIBLE advice.

Experience has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not to build a list. Building a list is a sound and smart business practice for two primary reasons:

1. Successful business people (and business consultants, analysts, etc.) will tell you that all of the real money is in the backend, that is, repeat sales to existing customers.

It costs less to get a sale from an existing customer (you've already spent money to find them) than it does to go find a new one because they presumably know, like and trust you.

Taking you up on a free offer involves less risk than spending money with you, especially if they don't know you from Adam.

Which leads to:

2. To get a sale, you first need to establish trust and credibility with your potential customer. The way to do that is to first give them something of value and THEN offer your products or services.

Another reason is because although someone may need what you're offering, they may not need it or want it (or have the money for it) right NOW. So you need to stay in regular communication with them so that when they ARE ready to buy, they'll buy from you.

There are lots of other reasons, but this is why you need to capture their contact information (and any other information you may need) so you can stay in touch.

Yes, your squeeze page is critical. But if they won't take you up on a free offer (and get on your list), then they aren't very likely to spend money with you either. If your squeeze page (with your free offer) isn't converting, then it's likely your sales page won't convert either.


Michelle

Hi Martin,

Follow Nigel's advice and read about Jim's story and you will see Jim also thanks Sean Donahoe and other Warriors.

Best wishes

That's just the kind of thinking that keeps people from even trying.

I have a book called Think and Grow Rich that has helped me make THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars!

Picked it up at a used book store for 3 bucks.

Change your thinking -- change your life!!!

Live by it...