Worst Mistake I Have Ever Made

51 replies
Hey guys,
I have been in this forum for a while now, over the past few months i have come across all sorts of people, and have read a big diverse range of posts. I have learned a lot in a short period of time, and have encountered a wide range of behaviors from people all around the world. All these people have a story behind how they became established in the IM world. I have seen eye grasping threads like "How i made thousands in a week," "How to quit your day job," "How i became a millionaire," and so on and so forth. There is absolutely nothing wrong with threads like these but we all know that most of them are gimmicks, nothing happens overnight. This is not what this post is all about, i am most assured that each and every one of the warriors in this forum has had their moment of failure a point where they thought about quitting and trying something new. My whole purpose of starting this thread is to have a all-in-one thread that talks about the worst mistake you have ever made, we can learn a lot from our past mistakes.
#made #mistake #worst
  • Profile picture of the author cloudstrife
    Well it's not the worst mistake I made in my life overall, but the worst mistake in my IM career:

    Following too many shiny objects. For a very long time I would be looking for the magic bullet to make money online. I was doing multiple courses and reading multiple e-books, all of which promised me mega bucks! The worst thing was that with the majority of them I never did the most important thing: TAKE ACTION!

    This happened for almost a year, until I got a mentor. He helped me clear my mind and get focused. I began actually implementing, and things changed from there. I lost a whole year, and that was by far my worst mistake.
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  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    My worst mistake was thinking other people knew the business better than me. I now realise I had that the wrong way round.

    Will
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    • Profile picture of the author Ronnie44
      Originally Posted by Will Edwards View Post

      My worst mistake was thinking other people knew the business better than me. I now realise I had that the wrong way round.

      Will
      That's a very good point. We have to know our limitations of course, but underestimating our abilities can be very restrictive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sara Nightingale
    The biggest mistake I think is having to many irons in the fire. Focus on one thing and master that before you move on. Do one thing and do it well because the way you do one thing is the way you do everything. If you try to spread the heat across to many branding irons none of them will get hot enough to leave a mark. So I suggest to everyone that they hyper focus their resources.
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  • Profile picture of the author Romeo90
    Agreed with Sara 100%

    I went through a stage where I would be concentrating on doing a project, I would look something up related to that project (like how to do a certain task), by accident find something interesting, then start on that - completley forgetting what I was searching for in the first place!

    So my biggest mistake was focus - I think now I have trained myself to focus on one project, and block everything else out until I have completed the project and have had some success with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Cheryl Low
      Being too impatient. You're right that nothing happens overnight and I'd expected it to. So when the sales didn't come immediately and it felt like forever building a list, I'd thought of giving up and going back to my day job which actually pays the bills many times over.

      I'm glad I didn't!

      My lesson? Perseverance and not giving up until you get there. Break your ultimate goal down into small realistic chunks and get there one step at a time.

      Cheryl
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      • Profile picture of the author cityhunter66
        Hey Cheryl,

        what do you work as in your day job? How do you find the energy to keep going at this when you're done with work at the end of the day?
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        • Profile picture of the author Cheryl Low
          Originally Posted by cityhunter66 View Post

          Hey Cheryl,

          what do you work as in your day job? How do you find the energy to keep going at this when you're done with work at the end of the day?
          Hey CityHunter, this is my full time pursuit at the moment. Left my job and immediately worked on this. But I'd had offers to do what I used to do but have so far resisted.

          I do know some people who do this with a full time job, though. They're single so that helps but to make this really work, I agree you need focus and dedication. These others are just looking for some part time income and would be very happy with $1000 a month extra.

          Cheers, Cheryl
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          • Profile picture of the author cityhunter66
            Thanks Cheryl for your reply. I am currently working on this part time as i hold a full time job...sometimes i have free blocks of time i can use to work on this during office hours. Generally i'm too tired to work on this after i come back from office. Yes, i'm single and i would be very happy to have $500 income Online marketing is really very tough especially when i am not very tech savvy. Trying to learn as much as i can from my mentor who's very patient and helpful.
            Maybe we can meet up sometime if you stay in the east
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          • Profile picture of the author getrichinfo
            The worst mistake i made is that i actually believed get-rich-quick exist ....

            Originally Posted by Cheryl Low View Post


            I do know some people who do this with a full time job, though. They're single so that helps but to make this really work, I agree you need focus and dedication. These others are just looking for some part time income and would be very happy with $1000 a month extra.

            Cheers, Cheryl
            off topic here. cheryl, u student of Jaz lai??
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      • Profile picture of the author BastianMann
        The worst thing I ever did in IM was to look for some magic system no one else knows. I think that is a misstake many people do. You look around in the WSOs because you have that belief there is a system making you money overnight without lifting a finger.

        The truth is there isn't such a system. The best advise (in my opinion) is to build a solid list and market affiliate or PLR products to them. This will take some time and cost some money, but it does work and will work in the future and isn't a complicated thing to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author MayfairNoble
    I think most people here will agree that having too many projects on the go at once (leading to poor results from all of them) is probably the biggest mistake many people make when they're new to IM.
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  • Profile picture of the author MattCatania
    The 'worst mistake' I've made regarding IM would have to be convincing myself (some years ago) that there was indeed information/methods that successful people had been hiding.

    I spent a bit of time searching for things that didn't exist and now understand that success is quite a simple formula.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    I ate sofa pizza once. Bad, bad idea. Oh, my biggest business mistake? Chasing silly dreams when I already knew what I was supposed to do. Pretty generic, yes. I've been lucky though to avoid any huge f**k-ups so far.
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  • Profile picture of the author J. P.
    My worst mistake is a combination of what's already been mentioned. Too many shiny objects, not sticking to one thing, and not capitalizing on my successes. I went to Big Seminar 3 in Orlando about 10 years ago and met a lot of you who were really supportive of a couple of ideas that I had. I've seen one or 2 implemented by others.

    Another mistake was that I partnered with someone who wasn't the most ethical person around. Actually put together a product and made a little bit of money, but the experience with this partner was not a fun thing when it should have been.

    Now I've signed up for a mentoring program that I really feel will get me back on the right track. I've heard the phrase "Take Massive Action" and now I'm in a position to do just that.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheArticlePros
    The biggest mistake I ever made had nothing to do with IM. I've related a few times before how I used to run a successful retail franchise, and I kept it up for over 5 years. I made mistake after mistake after mistake with that franchise, but somehow I kept it going the entire time.

    My biggest regret, though, was that I never put back the money I was making. It was the first time in my life I'd ever had money, and I did whatever I wanted to do with no regard for tomorrow. Had I paid a little more attention to the books, I probably could doubled my profit and sank a lot of money into stocks and a retirement fund, and I could've walked away from the business when it started to go downhill instead of sinking all that I had left into it.

    The TLDR version: I had no exit strategy.

    -- j
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  • Mine was paying to much for an event and hiring the wrong people paying up front.
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  • Profile picture of the author Abraham L
    my worst mistake: buying a WSO, and then buying another one without COMPLETELY putting the previous one to action till the end and till it worked.

    (SEVERAL TIMES!)
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    • Profile picture of the author MissTerraK
      My biggest mistake was being naive in not realizing that there are people out there who look for complete newbies to prey upon due to their lack of knowledge in anything IM.

      Not in the loss of money, my eyes were opened just before it went that far, but what I temporarily lost was even more devastating. I lost my self confidence, and a lot of time where I could have been productive. I felt violated and it crippled me for awhile.

      However, since being slowly encouraged to come out from the safe box I was hiding in by some awesome warriors and other marketers I met, I now view it as a huge lesson for me and I am a much wiser marketer since then as well as a better judge of character.

      I'm no longer once bitten twice shy, and not quite so naive.

      Terra
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      • Profile picture of the author denhinn
        I appreciate all your comments, looks like most of us fell for the shiny objects that looked beautiful on the outside but had absolutely nothing on the inside, i too was a victim, but i think the worst mistake by far is not creating a list. My main goal for the next few weeks is creating a list focused on a particular niche once i get a good number of people, then i can make my next step. I realized that this business operates in steps, one false or misjudged step determines if you will end up having a profit or a loss.
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  • Profile picture of the author pdrs
    I've made a TON - but probably relying on Google and spending all my time trying to build a "business" around Google traffic was my biggest mistake.
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  • Profile picture of the author Espen Samuelsen
    My worst mistake was probably postponing and thinking that it's too hard, so I wouldn't know where to begin etc., and thus never really begining.

    Once I began, things just started rolling and I realized it wasn't that hard, small baby steps gets you all the way!
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  • Profile picture of the author Espen Samuelsen
    My worst mistake was probably postponing and thinking that it's too hard, so I wouldn't know where to begin etc., and thus never really begining.

    Once I began, things just started rolling and I realized it wasn't that hard, small baby steps gets you all the way!
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    • Profile picture of the author faisalferoze
      Originally Posted by Espen Samuelsen View Post

      My worst mistake was probably postponing and thinking that it's too hard, so I wouldn't know where to begin etc., and thus never really begining.

      Once I began, things just started rolling and I realized it wasn't that hard, small baby steps gets you all the way!
      I can def. relate!
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  • Profile picture of the author Job TI
    My worst mistake is when i start my home biz i didn't use e-marketing for it and end up wasting over 6 month of my time and money.
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  • Profile picture of the author lovboa
    Banned
    My worst mistake was sticking with my first site to the end.

    We all start with a site and a keyword. I started with a terrible one.

    Difficult to monetize, few relevant ads, and extremely competitive.

    I should have scrapped it and moved on, but I was determined to make it to the first page.

    I eventually did, but it was not the Promised Land I expected it to be.
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    • Profile picture of the author moneymakersguide
      The worst mistake I ever made was jumping into the project too soon without a real business plan. I spent $2,000 on getting a trademark which I never really used, purchasing shirt labels for $600 that I just have lying around somewhere and than buying a domain and hosting. I found out later that I could've did it all for free! That was the dumbest mistake I ever made and I totally blew all that money. Going forward, I now research before I jump into things.
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  • Profile picture of the author curly sue
    Not outsourcing from the word go. OS takes a whole load of your chest.
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  • Profile picture of the author babylj
    The worst thing I ever made is subscrribing to the dropship that I thought I can be successful without even bearing in mind that I must have an internet marketing knowledge.
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  • My worst mistake was, after learning all the processes of online money making I was running after adsense earning. Not in white hat way, but the black hat way. After working few days, I was thinking it is not the right way to earn money. Black hat earnings may be easy but there are possibilities that they might get seized. Now I am working white hat only and it has not yet bring me a lot of money but it brought peace of Mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author TomYevsikov
    I guess my biggest mistake in the IM career was thinking about the money and not about the value!
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert H Cwik
    1. Not building a list from the very beginning (could also be 2. and 3.).
    2. Too many irons in the fire.
    3. Chasing every next-big-shiny-object-thing out there.

    Remedies:
    To 1. Whatever you do, look for list building opportunities.
    To 2 and 3 combined. FOCUS! Do one thing at a time, and do it consistently.

    To put things in right perspective:
    Would you quit/change your day job after six months because it hasn't made your rich yet?
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  • Profile picture of the author MariamN
    My mistake was the though that I could earn much money with little effort and a few hours of working. Now I realized that IM needs to work daily and keep your self up to date for new methods of making your business more successful.
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  • Profile picture of the author infinityplr
    Well the worst mistake I made, so far, is not starting out early and letting some opportunity to pass. I was able to realize that I cannot achieve my dream by being an employee who works for 8 hours a day, 3 years ago. But i did nothing, I have already some leads as to what to do, but also my fear of losing a permanent job held me back. it was just a bout 3 months ago when I took some action and made a decision. and it is all worth it.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimShrieves
    The worst mistake I made was thinking I could just 'go it alone' and become successful by myself... This is how I see it now:

    Before any kind of income, we all get an education (taught by others), then we go on to put that into action, and we make money.

    Why should it be any different online? I know you can 'self teach' but is that the most effective way to learn? What if you're teaching yourself the wrong things, in the wrong way?

    The point I'm making is that everyone starting out or with little online success should look to find someone who has become successful online, learn all about them, get them to be your mentor... you will progress at light-speed. This is what I have recently done and 3 days ago I made my first money online

    With the right direction and plan you get the focus to find success.
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  • Profile picture of the author smallbiz
    Other people have said it but I'll add my voice to FOCUS, or the lack thereof being my worst mistake to date. Also, giving up too easily when not seeing instant results.
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    • Profile picture of the author cityhunter66
      One thing which frustrates me sometimes is when links don't work, pages can't load and i can't progress. I've learnt to take it one step at a time and if that step cannot be taken immediately, i leave it and wait a day or two for the help to revert. No point sitting in front of the com getting frustrated at a road-block which cannot be solved immediately no matter what you tried.
      Most of us don't realise it, we're really not in that big a rush...especially in this internet-age where we must see instant results and instant feedback etc.

      btw, i can't send private messages as i don't have 50 posts yet
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  • Profile picture of the author Weblin
    My mistake was to run behind money instead of making good reputation on web.
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  • Profile picture of the author denhinn
    Don't this thread give you a little bit of comfort knowing that you are not alone and that almost everybody made a mistake before they started earning income?
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    My worst mistake was not doing backend marketing for over a year. I would get alot of frontend customers and then look for MORE frontend customers... instead of selling more to the ones that i already had.
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  • Profile picture of the author WesBlaylock
    Well, I've been around doing this since 1998, so I have quite a few mistakes

    1. Doing what I wanted to do instead of what my market was asking for. Even though I have had many successes doing this, I probably could have had even more if I was paying attention to my market's needs.

    2. Letting an enormous amount of momentum die off on 3 different occasions. Once you have an offer that gets momentum, keep it going!

    3. Not speaking at the Internet marketing seminars that I was asked to. I just don't want to work weekends But it would be a great networking experience..

    4. Not delegating/being a control freak about my business. Still working on this one, but I'm getting better. I just hate that it usually takes me longer to explain what I want done then to just do it myself. Or waiting 3 days and getting something back and it is nothing like I wanted. I should probably hire an actual team instead of contracting out to new people.

    5. Procrastinating, regularly. In fact, I am here writing this because I am procrastinating instead of finishing up my presentation for my new product. :|

    6. Not making enough friends online. It's amazing how helpful a network of friends to talk to regularly is on here. Anybody wanna be my friend? ha

    7. Quitting drums for 10 years. Okay, this has nothing to do with Internet marketing. And even though it wasn't a complete musical loss as I learned how to play guitar in those 10 years, I am still kicking myself for quitting- But I play now daily!

    This certainly isn't all, but it's a good start

    Wes Blaylock
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  • Profile picture of the author WesBlaylock
    ...I feel like I should keep going as writing this stuff down seems to be helping me

    8. Saving things for later- Like "Oh I'll add that idea to my next product"..Problem is..80% of the time that next product doesn't get created, or the idea that I saved for it will no longer fit. I have over 100 pages of ideas and outlines from the last decade that never happened! Which is just sad to me (30 pages of ideas in the last 3 months which I am trying to make happen lol). Ideas are nothing if you do not use them, so don't have anything for later. "Later" is like a fart in the wind!

    9. Not realizing how important enthusiasm is. When you are enthusiastic about something now, DO IT NOW. Once the enthusiasm wears off, you won't strive for excellence with it so much. So these days, whenever I come up with a new idea that I am pumped about, I try to knock it out as quickly as possible. You can always add to it later, but capturing that enthusiasm when it happens is key.

    10. Forgetting the basics. Sometimes the most basic, simplistic view is the answer. Happens to me all the time.

    11. Not getting myself out more. People don't want to buy from text or flashy videos, they want a personality, a relationship, an actual human being. Show yourself, tell stories about you, let people know you are real.

    Blah blah..we are students forever!

    Wes Blaylock
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    • Profile picture of the author denhinn
      The thing about IM is, that one or last mistake that you make might be the beginning of a really successful business.
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  • Profile picture of the author superowid
    For me is... reading this forum all the time and take no action. LOL.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Wong
    My worst mistake would be spending all my money on new training courses and not having anything left to spend on my marketing--the part of IM that would actually bring in the money. Always learning and not doing...
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  • Profile picture of the author cynthiamason
    My first worst mistake was trying to take too many online courses at one time. They other mistake I made was not starting a business sooner.
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  • Profile picture of the author acebingo2006
    I am a pure newbie haha and right now my blog about making money online and the program I am following it is the main source of my action... its either gonna make me lots of money or probably be a mistake... guess theres only one way to find out and thats by doing it
    and i so agree on the gimmicks part... ebooks (no offense) but i have seen some real crap lately... to the point where I want to make a REAL ebook full of content and value and show how it's done
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  • Profile picture of the author eugenedm
    The worst mistake for me is to not get into IM simply because I'm afraid of hard work and I have no plans. Good thing this didn't happen to me yet.
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