I just have to ask this, what is missing?

In my opinion, it's lack of systems. People focus on techniques, and eventually move on to the next shiny thing. Learning new methods is to be applauded, but should be approached with a thought process of " how can I fit this into my blueprint".

At least, this is what has been holding me back. It started to come together for me when I started trying to put it together. YMMV.

Regards,
Kevin

It's "all the ebooks, mentoring and coaching programs available today"
If anything there is too much of it and this sidetracks lots of people I think.

It isn't bad coaching or bad programs or too many programs thats to blame though. Most people don't succeed for the same reasons that they sit in traffic and go to jobs they hate. Its easy and there is no urgency to change.

Put a gun in my crotch and tell me you'll fire if I don't make 1 million dollars next year, I guarantee you i'll find a way to make 1.5million. Its all about complacency and urgency. Theres too much of one and not enough of the other for most people.

should I dare say it:

People don't want to be successful. They are happy right where they are.

Broke and wishing their lottery numbers hit.

the systems are there, I've seen them down to do this and do that

people are just lazy, or try once or twice and fail so they don't try as hard next time.

or they'd rather watch the sports games....

No one wants to work and put forth the effort.

Whatever happened to people's determination..? Almost every system on the internet will work to some degree, if you put forth an effort for a long enough period of time.

instead of people saying "...this has to work no matter what" they simply give up and move on. I guess for them it's much easier to just give up then to really sit down and give it an honest effort.

Mike Hill

People lose focus and overwhelmed with all those free and paid info. The simple formula is to focus on something before you move to the next. But don't try to do the same thing and expect it to work. If it does not work, it does not work, or at least you cannot make it work.

Hi
I think there are too many marketeer selling the same kind of products or using the same methods to promote their products. So the chances of making money is not there. Most ebooks or coaching teaches you the same methods. If you can find unique ways of promoting your products to new groups of potential buyers, there your success rates will be higher. There are definitely such people out there who can provide this type of coaching.

Cheers to your success !

It's not just 95% of people trying to succeed in their online business that fail.

It's 95% of everyone that tries anything that fail.

And there are millions of reasons why, but the obvious ones were already
mentioned, so i'll leave it at that

Jason

I went from earning +US$750 per week online to earning nothing by focusing on the wrong thing.

Nothing is static and if you don't go with the changes you lose. Just because it worked last month doesn't mean it will work this month...

The basics are for the most part timeless, but some of the specifics can be "flavors of the month" - if you focus on last month's flavor you've lost before you even start.

David, the quote about 95% isn't about IM but it is about businesses in general. The stats are that any new business 95% will fail in the first year. That is offline business as well as online businesses.

Most people who fail, fail because they have started the wrong business, didn't take the right advice, didn't do their homework, and understand what their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were.

In IM too many people want to earn money overnight without doing anything, so it is a case of some people will quit before they have even started.

Many people wanting to make money with internet marketing
focus only on IM, when they should gear their efforts towards
a more viable market - people searching for solutions to their
everyday needs and problems - while using the IM methods
that they acquired here and elsewhere. Because the IM niche
is so competitive, the vast majority will fall by the wayside.

The same is true with affiliate marketing - most people think
they'll get rich in a few days, when the reality is that it takes
several months or even years to become successful with aff
marketing.

Focus, people ie me, tend to jump around on projects. Really bad habit. Only just starting to slow down. if i get an idea now i just write it down and work on it mentally while i do some other work.

Sometimes its best for us to just stand back and give our selves advice as if we where "gurus" ourself, its pretty amazing what comes out..

Devan

Let's be blunt..

How about a complete lack of business understanding?

There's no such thing as an overnight success, all my overnight
successes have been preceeded by weeks and months of hard
work from inception, through proper planning to implementation
and follow up.

Yes, you need systems and procedures in place, but without the
fundamental knowledge on how to build a business you are at a
real disadvantage.

It starts with in-depth market research, is followed by a detailed
business plan and the time and resources to build the appropriate
infrastructure to implement the plan.

John

I don't have the answer to this but I wish I did. I am surrounded by people who are ten times more talented at their gifts than I will ever be at anything in my lifetime. I can see huge business opportunities in people everywhere, and sometimes I can't even shut up about it, and they have to hear what they "should" do. But virtually no one I know exploits their amazing abilities to make the kind of money they should be making. Everyone seems to lack confidence / be waiting for some kind of engraved invitation.

Instruction materials can shorten the learning curve but there's no substitute for experience - the difference between success and failure lies in the old "get knocked down seven times, stand up 8" recipe that's older than Napoleon Hill. On average an entrepreneur will try and discard 53 different businesses, ideas or business models before hitting on 1-3 that are workable for them with their particular combination of background and interests. The 95% failure rate leaves out how many people who learn from their first 52 failures and go on to become an overnight success with their 53rd project. (source: the Small business Administration and SCORE.org).

There are a million proven templates for how to make money in various ways and they all work for some value of work, but do you have the requisite skill set and background to pull it off? Tiger Woods makes a mint playing golf - do you think anyone can pick up a set of clubs today and win tournaments/get endorsement contracts tomorrow? Or even get a job as a golf shop pro? Did Hemingway win the Nobel prize for his first "What I did on my vacation" in second grade?

Overnight success stories tend to be ten years in the making as you plug away and accumulate the necessary experience and business knowledge. The ones who really do fail are the ones who keep on jumping on to the next thing instead of mastering one thing - the ones who don't put in their 10,000 hours of practice to master their craft.

Lack of time. There's not enough of it to do what I want to do.

Hi David,

Most IMers focus on tactics rather than strategy. Everything from article marketing to arbitrage are merely tactics. Yes, they can yield an income and often quite a good one, but nowhere near as good as a solid business built on strategic thinking and planning. As has been said, many jump around following the latest and greatest hot tactic, make a quick buck and then search for and hop onto the next one. This will produce short terms gains but has the result of producing an unfocussed, ephemeral "business" that needs constant hands on work and forces the owner to search for the next hot tactic in order to sustain a constant stream of revenue.

This is simply opportunistic, tactical thinking and execution. Not a real business.

To those that make a good living from such a mindset and practices, and who would say "well I do alright!" I would reply by saying,

"Great! You know how to make money, you know how to exploit and profit from many of the tactics. What a wonderful head start you have. But imagine how much you would make with a focussed goal oriented business plan built on strong strategic foundations."

Without this sounding like a pitch...a few weeks back, there was a great thread by Keith Kogane, and through a discussion he and I had I was inspired to create a product all about strategic thinking, planning and application for IM. We should have it ready soon and it will be out some time in the New Year.

Why do I feel qualified to do this?

Well, it's what I do and have done for years as a strategic marketing and advertising consultant with more household brands than I can remember. In fact, I am writing this post as a little distraction (Monday morning syndrome and as I drink my eleven o'clock Wu Long tea) from writing a marketing plan for the repositioning of some key savings products for Lloyds TSB Bank.

Strategic thinking really is what is missing. Without a strategic overview many lose sight (and motivation) of which direction to go in, what the short, medium and long term goals are, and of course lack a coherent focused roadmap of how to achieve them. All they are really building is a job often disguised (even to themselves!) by the fact that they have an LLC or Ltd company as the framework, maybe with some outsourced, or rather "out-TASKED" elements, but it is a job nonetheless.

A real growth oriented business with real long term viability and true scalability and that can run without the owner being hands on day in day out (read: the IM Dream that so many covet) can only be achieved though strategic planning. In the IM space you just have to look at how the "gurus" do it to see this obvious fact.

Thomas.

the mentoring programs are different - some are good, some are scam. But the final and ultimate element that's missing is the one that applies these mentoring programs. Here are some of the reasons for the massive failures:

- Procrastination
- Paralysis analysis
- Lack of specific skills and knowledge (web design, management, marketing)
- Lack of persistence
- Lack of motivation (desperation, lack of belief in success)
- Thinking small, not seeing the big picture

I think these are the main reasons why most of the internet marketers fail.