What has been your single biggest problem trying to make money online?

I have spoken to a lot of people on the forum here and elsewhere about their challenges when they were first trying to make money online. I would love to get a thread going where people can post information on some of the main things they feel held them back in the beginning, or are holding them back now.



I will start off with my own experience - don't laugh!

WARNING-MAY CONTAIN CORNEY HUMOR!!!!

When first starting to try and make money online, the biggest thing I struggled with was not really knowing where to start. Every body seemed to have a different method of doing what I wanted to do, and that was earn some extra cash.

One source told me to write hundreds of articles and do Adsense. Another source claimed you just needed .edu links to rank your site and you could sell anything. I heard of blogging my way to millions and that sounded pretty good, until I saw the blog a friend of my wife put up and I was pretty sure she was not making millions.

I heard you needed to write eBooks. Cool, so I called my local library and they said they didn't have any. "What kind of a library are you people running!?!" I shouted, and hung up the phone. In retrospect, not my proudest moment to be sure.

Then what was the thing everyone kept calling a neesh? It sounded like some kind of pastry I might find in a bakery where I could not speak the language. Every time I heard the word neesh, I started to get hungry.

Finally, I figured out what a neesh or niche was - well kinda. When I first started, I did not know there were so many kinds of niches, general niches with smaller niches and sub-niches, micro-niches, keyword niches based on long-tail, short-tail, and no-tail keywords. Keywords sounded like passwords and I could just picture Gandalf trying to remember the password to open the door to Mines of Moria. I'll bet Gandalf could figure out how to make money online.

I read that I had to get a Free Google Keyword Tool, pay for a WordTracker, and borrow Travis' Traffic. Who is Travis again? Then, Imagine my surprise when I learned that I needed a Market Samurai! I only know a couple of Japanese words so how was I going to hire one? (I wondered if they ate Neeshes) And I really didn't think I would need THAT much protection. Besides, wouldn't I draw much more attention to myself with a Samurai following me around?

Then I was told that after my Samurai gave me some keywords, in English I hoped, I should write them all on some sheets - spread out. I knew I could "Excel" at writing on sheets if my wife would let me use her fabric markers because I have excellent handwriting. "I think I am figuring out how this works now!", I thought.

When I started, I knew a little about a bench press was but what was a WordPress - and how many times did I need to "press" it to get good results? I was getting very tired with the thought of that much exercise. Perhaps Travis would do a few reps for me.

What was PPC and why were people going brook, and making a bazillion dollars in five days with it? I figured it must be something on the commodities market like "Premium Pork Chunks." (I think you can find those in the canned meat section next to the Potted Meat Product.) Yes, investing in commodities can be risky!

After PPC, I had to learn a whole new language.
UAW - Clearly these are UnAuthorized Wrestlers.
SEO - A guy who helps run a company but he's several letters away from being the boss - definitely middle management.
PLRs - I have some of these in my toolbox.
CPA - Certified Public Account (That was easy because my brother is one)
CRO - A large black bird.
CTR - My daughter told me this means "Choose The Redhead!"
DNS - Another plural name for a home offices.
EMD - Someone that works in an ambulance but they are not a doctor yet.
FTP - The company that delivers flowers.
GUI - This is what you get when you step on a worm.
HTML - I can't even spell HTML!
H1 - That is the original Hummer.
PR - Public Relations of course.
SERPs - OK, what the heck are SERPs?
URL - That is my uncle's name.
WYSIWYG - George Washington wore one of these, but they are no longer in style.

Well, I hope you get the idea. I heard so many bits of information on so many topics that I had no idea where to start. Wasn't there just a simple path to success?

Then I realized that I had been suffering for months with an illness very common to Internet Marketers. Yeah, you've heard of it - Paralysis of Analysis! You might even have it too! I had so much information swimming around in my head it was like dumping all 5,000 pieces of puzzle in a pile and trying to figure out what the picture was.

I finally began sifting through the pieces and taking things one at a time. The key thing for me was actually taking action and DOING something rather then thinking I had to know everything about everything.

I still get a little hungry when I hear the word neesh, but I know now that only Internet Marketers on the other side of the pond eat them. I even said neesh when talking to my wife the other day and she said, "Real men don't eat that"!?!

My biggest problem trying to make money on the Internet was me.


What has your biggest challenge been, or what is your biggest challenge or problem now? After all, that is one of the main reasons we are here, isn't it? To learn from other and then help others learn.

Wonderful place, this Warrior Forum!



Thanks in advance for all those that choose to share here.