This is why 95% of Internet Marketers fail

Mark,

I agree 100%. I so often see people spending hours, trying to test which color of the bottom would convert best, while in reality their product offering is not there yet.

If I'm focusing on the wrong aspects of marketing, I'm going to miss the incredible, money-producing opportunities that were right in front of me. And no matter how much or how little energy/effort I expend, I'll wallow in mediocrity.

A lot of people who know me from Mount Shasta don't think I work. I sit around coffee shops, chit-chatting with people and dink around on the computer all day. That's what they think. What they don't know is, while I'm appearing lazy to them, I'm making more money than everyone else who's in the coffee shop combined (on most days.)

My point?

Because I'm focusing on helping people, I create all kind of opportunities that most IMers never get the chance to see or experience, because they're too self-absorbed in meeting their own wants and needs.

I don't disagree that a lot of people are lazy. But even the people who put a massive amount of effort into building their online-based business will predictably fail - if they're coming from the wrong perspective. In fact, a lot of IMers spend 10 or 12 hours a day spinning their wheels, spending tons of energy on action steps that will NEVER produce any results. It's sad. And it's an epidemic.

I never studied IM like of a lot of the top earners did. I focused more on self-development books, seminars, coaching and so on. Along the way, I coined The Law of Attention (a product I'm currently working on.) It goes like this: "Your results are always becoming where your attention is RIGHT NOW." If I'm focused on chasing the money, I'll always be chasing the money. But when I make that simple, but courageous shift of attention to asking myself HOW I can help tons and tons of people, it changes where my focus is...

...and therefore what I see - including opportunities I'd normally omit from my experience.

Don't get me wrong...

A lot of IMers ARE lazy. They're trying to copy crappy websites, never investing in excellence (a byproduct of laziness) and go about selling nonsense in classless ways. Those people almost always fail. And the ones who succeed live horrible lives. But again, don't you think their efforts would manifest different results - if they changed their perspective (attention?)

By the way...

Effort does not equal results. Just saying. It's an important awareness to have.

Glad you think I'm cute.

Seriously though...

Cheers for bringing up your objection.

Mark

Well actually, it is self absorption. If you're lazy, you're too self absorbed in not wanting to help others or yourself to get off of your butt and do something constructive.

Yes we can all be guilty of being lazy, but that's not the reason for most failure. It's not having your eyes on helping others - the end goal, and having your eyes on yourself. Whether that's being too lazy to do something good, or putting yourself first with the desire to be rich. They both are "self absorbed" things.

It really is simple give first and you shall receive. Gratitude creates great attitude. At least that's what I tell me kids

Good observation, after all there is more than one way to look at how information is going to benefit others. Having the right mindset toward the customer benefits is a good place to start.

Doc to Marty in Back to the Future III:

"You're not thinking 4th dimensionally."

If people aren't thinking about what their prospects want, need and deserve - from the inception of their product idea to writing the copy to executing the design, they're going to make a whole host of predictable mistakes. However, most of the other mistakes (if not all of them) are the result of the looking at the marketing process from the entirely wrong perspective.

When people build their marketing funnel from a flawed foundation...

Their campaign runs the chance of being a vantiy show. They'll the miss the mark in delivering their brand-spanking-new solution to the world, lose money, get burnt out, lose faith in their ideas... and ultimately fail.

From that viewpoint...

You're absolutely right.

There are tons of reasons why people fail.

But those reasons are spawned by the misconception that, "Getting MY product out there is about ME."

"I need money."

"I want financial freedom."

"I want to be like WillR!"

I'll give you an example:

When my wife started writing her copy for her Numerology business, she talked about herself... a lot. I kept on having to make sure she was talking about what her potential clients want - so she can help them overcome whatever obstacles they're experiencing.

In the last few years...

She's built up her business to be quite successful. But she still runs into thinking that somehow, "It's about me!"

Keep in mind...

She's been doing counseling (one way or the other) for the last 6 or 7 years. Before Numerology, she was a Nutritionist.

When she prepares for a session with her clients, she does their chart and studies it - until she's clear about the direction/theme for the session.

When she gets off of her calls, she's usually jacked. "Oh my God, that session was a-frickin-mazing!" She gets a high from it.

On the flip side...

When a session doesn't go well (compared to HER expectations,) she'll come out of her office sorta down. I'll ask what's wrong and she'll say something like, "I just could get into the flow."

"Really? You don't feel like the client got anything out of it?"

"Well, she got something out of it. It just wasn't one of those over-the-top sessions for me."

"Hmmm... Did the client reschedule?"

"Yup. She bought a package."

"Well, it couldn't have been that bad."

"Yeah, I just wanted her to experience that OH MY GOD feeling."

I always have to remind my wife that the sessions aren't about her. Every client is different. And not all of them will respond with the kind of enthusiam and passion my wife looks forward to. But she'll let it cloud her judgment.

And that's what happens when IMers come from the wrong perspective; they take things personally and let setbacks cloud their judgment, then continue to make more bad decisions.

It's not until people stop, reset their thinking and realign their attention towards what the customer/client wants, needs and deserves that they get back into the flow of making course-correcting, money-making decisions for their sales funnel.

Jesus.

That was long.

Mark

P.S. When you're coming from the RIGHT perspective, your passion is being productively channeled. And it grows exponentially - empowering you to create an even bigger, better business.

You know, there is a little formula that I used to teach, back when I used to teach sales. The short version is as follows:

"Context" is that which surrounds and defines. We each have a "context" about us. It is the picture we have in our head about who we are right now. People read our context better than they read our words. Have you ever heard of body language? That is one of many ways that we show our context, whether we want to or not, to others.

A person's context can be dictated by many things, but the number 1 contributor is purpose. Whatever your purpose for doing something is (whether it be getting up out of bed in the morning, or creating your next $1,000,000 product), you will create a context for yourself (the person you need to be to achieve your purpose).

If my purpose for going to meet with a prospect is to close the sale, so that you can make money off the deal, the prospect will get that. If, on the other hand, you are meeting with the prospect because you truly want to introduce them to a product that will significantly benefit THEM, your changes of closing the sale go WAY up.

In essence, the less you worry about what's in it for you, the more money you will actually make. I mean, obviously, there are guidelines that need to be set up to make sure that you are profitable enough to continue to be able to help people, but focus on the customer, and the money will come.

Yea, I know... I am repeating what the OP said, in a different way, but this is a subject near and dear to my heart, so I figured I would chime in.

Yeah serryjw, you have rise up the point what others were missing. Many people think that they can start up online without job or when they are broke. While if you are new in IM world you need to test many things and invest time and money until you get success so you must take it as part time in start and that is successful people start if they are not a son of millionaire.