What is the biggest mistakes you made in your IM career?

43 replies
Like that title says, What do you think is the biggest mistakes you have made since you started your internet marketing journey?

I would say that one of my biggest mistakes when i started and for a long time, was that i did not focus on one thing. I always tried like 2-3 things at a time, and when it didn't work i just jumped over to the next thing, never really sticking to one thing and putting all effort there.
#biggest #career #made #mistakes
  • Profile picture of the author blueclcl
    My biggest mistake was not to take action sooner. If I had took action years before I actually did then I would be much better of now for it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by blueclcl View Post

      My biggest mistake was not to take action sooner.
      Mine was the exact opposite: to take action too soon, before I had enough relevant, accurate education to know whether or not I was facing in the right direction before embarking on the journey. If you're facing the wrong way, it doesn't matter how much action you take.

      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8532320

      .
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    • Profile picture of the author craighakwins
      Originally Posted by blueclcl View Post

      My biggest mistake was not to take action sooner. If I had took action years before I actually did then I would be much better of now for it.
      True!

      Mine would be limiting myself to things and not having the courage to explore other techniques in IM. It could have made a lot of difference in the past, but it's the past now. No more regrets!
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  • Profile picture of the author naidyphoon
    Not getting a mentor ASAP.
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  • Profile picture of the author Global Content Services
    Banned
    Just like what the previous poster said, my biggest mistake was not to start sooner. If I did, I would have been much better. Starting sooner will also give you a pioneer status that will help build your credibility online. That's my biggest mistake.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      My biggest mistake cost me my business, literally.

      I put all my marketing into submitting articles to Ezine Articles and when Google smacked the hell out of them, something I never thought would happen because they were so big, my traffic eventually dwindled to nothing.

      Never put all your eggs in one basket, especially when that basket is controlled by a third party site.

      I am now in the process or rebuilding. Something that, after 11 years, I shouldn't have to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendon Zahrndt
    Getting a mentor.

    And not listening to sound advice out of fear of being lied to or cheated.

    Would have shaved a good number of years off of the learning curve.

    Oh - and trying to learn every minute detail of every single thing I was learning.

    Lesson - be a jack of all trades but a master of none. Outsource to the professionals.
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  • Profile picture of the author stevenjacobs
    Banned
    Start building my list sooner
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    The biggest mistake I have made online?

    (here's a secret that most gurus don't share with their affiliates).

    After struggling to make money online for 5 years, I found a good mentor that showed me how to earn a good income online. What my mentor did not teach me is that you have to work with residual income programs only. His entire training was about getting paid ONCE from different affiliate programs.

    After making over 3000+ one time commission sales in 2-4 years, I came to a conclusion that this is not the way to go.

    Focusing on residual type programs is the way to go if you want long term success.
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    • Profile picture of the author datingworld
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post


      Focusing on residual type programs is the way to go if you want long term success.
      In fact, any residual income is a real business.
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    • Profile picture of the author Aji Raman
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      The biggest mistake I have made online?

      (here's a secret that most gurus don't share with their affiliates).

      After struggling to make money online for 5 years, I found a good mentor that showed me how to earn a good income online. What my mentor did not teach me is that you have to work with residual income programs only. His entire training was about getting paid ONCE from different affiliate programs.

      After making over 3000+ one time commission sales in 2-4 years, I came to a conclusion that this is not the way to go.

      Focusing on residual type programs is the way to go if you want long term success.
      What do you mean by residual type programs?

      -AJ
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      • Profile picture of the author alvinhy
        Originally Posted by Aji Raman View Post

        What do you mean by residual type programs?

        -AJ
        Residual programs are like membership affiliates where you offer a membership. These types of affiliates give you monthly guaranteed income as long as the user is registered.

        For example, offering web hosting etc...
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        • Profile picture of the author Aji Raman
          Originally Posted by alvinhy View Post

          Residual programs are like membership affiliates where you offer a membership. These types of affiliates give you monthly guaranteed income as long as the user is registered.

          For example, offering web hosting etc...
          Thanks Man

          -AJ
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Manetzke
    This is easy, and mine is the same as the original poster. I would give something a half hearted try before moving on to the next thing. I wasted 3 years doing this.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Looking for markets with no competition.
      I found no competition markets is usually filled with no paying customers. But they have hoards of information seekers, freebie hunters and the curious. Doh, 2 years wasted!
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      • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
        Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

        Looking for markets with no competition.
        I found no competition markets is usually filled with no paying customers. But they have hoards of information seekers, freebie hunters and the curious. Doh, 2 years wasted!

        I have to disagree with this... partially.

        I'm in 5 low competition markets right now and they contribute to almost half of my entire monthly income.

        I agree that certain markets have a lot of freebie seekers. But you can usually weed those markets out with a bit of research and common sense.

        Then there are markets that are just "fickle" and what I learned is they're just harder to sell to. I honestly believe this is WHY some markets are deemed "non-profitable" is because people just haven't learned how to sell to those markets.

        Let me give you a small example -

        I was targeting a keyword that gets 30,000 SM and had very little competition on Google. So I decided to create a compelling youtube video, rank it, and see what happens.

        I was able to rank the video #1 in 2 weeks, got a bunch of traffic but it wasn't converting.

        And I thought "this is probably why there's so little competition".

        But because the keyword had obvious pain behind it, I couldn't understand how there was so few buyers. It made absolutely no sense to me. So rather than blame the market, I blamed myself and my own inability to sell in that market.

        I wound up ranking another video as a test. But the second time around I tried a completely different way of selling. The video hit #1 again in 2 weeks. This time I was getting 6% conversions.

        That lit of a light bulb in my head. And I started to learn that the market was just very skeptical, so if I made a 3rd video where I focused more on transparency and trust, I may have better conversions.

        That 3rd video wound up converting at 22%. And it was such an eye opening experience for me. Because I realized quite simply, different markets require different approaches and different ways of selling. I believe a lot of these low competition niches, people just haven't drilled deep enough to hit oil.

        And what I REALLY like about these niches, aside from how easy it is to rank and dominate them.... is the lack of volatility. All 3 of the niches I'm in, I've been in for longer than 12 months. I NEVER see anyone trying to outrank me. I NEVER see new sites or videos or anything. My content just sits there ranking #1, making money, I never touch it, and it's almost like the niches are invisible to 99.8% of marketers.

        If you ask me, you have a much higher chance of failure in competitive markets.

        There is a tutorial right on Clickbank and the 1st thing it says -

        "The #1 mistake most newbies make is targeting too broad". Now it doesn't say "targeting too competitively" but to me it's the same difference.

        I also see it all over this forum. One newbie after another after another entering fitness niches, weight loss or mmo... and it's no wonder most of them fail.

        Chances aren't I'm not going to make $1,000,000 / month like people are doing in more competitive markets. But I have thousands of niches like this I can enter immediately, and get traffic flowing in a matter of weeks. Most the niches are just isolated sub niches in health, software, technology and music. And what I really like the most, my eggs are spread as wide as possible. If someone DOES enter one of my niches and outrank me, my earnings might drop like 5% max. It's very easy to bounce back from and just rerank or find other niches to target.

        Most of the guru's will disagree with that I'm writing here. And don't get me wrong, I rank in a couple competitive niches as well. But 70-80% of all the keywords I target are low competition. Because I'm a firm believer in that saying "pick your battles wisely". I take risks here and there, but most of the time I'm picking battles I KNOW I can win. I think that's the best way any marketer can make money.

        -Rob
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  • Profile picture of the author Spike Gaimster
    Without a doubt it was thinking that I needed to know everything before I got started and subsequently delaying getting projects under-way, and it's the worst type of procratination because it's easy to fool yourself that you are actually working.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anne Laidlaw
    When I first started years back I never finished anything I had 4-5 projects on the go but nothing got completed. Now all that has changed I have my white board and keep track of everything.
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    My biggest mistake was not reacting fast enough when things have clearly turned bad. I was one of the largest individual link sellers in 2008 when Google started their campaign against trading links. I did not reach fast enough and found my sites de-indexed waves after waves. I could definitely have prevented some of these de-indexings if I reacted and worked much harder. Still I was able to maintain the business in a reduced form until last year. That was when a Google loophole led to the appearance of many high PR domains that appeared to be genuine. As a result, my inventory was completely devalued. Finally, the death blow came when Google went after the link brokers I was working with.
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    Do not get between a wombat and a chocolate biscuit; you will regret it dearly!

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  • Profile picture of the author ptcrefko
    Listening for those so called Guru's
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  • Profile picture of the author RealEcon
    #1 Basing everything on forever and always being able to beat Google's algo, lol.
    #2 Not building a list from the very beginning.
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  • Profile picture of the author ceenote100
    When I first started I got caught up in information overload. I literally bought every product that had a dazzling sales page hoping that I would strike it rich. I wasted so much money on lots of crap that didn't work.
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  • Profile picture of the author ijohnson
    The biggest mistake I made in my IM career was not creating a plan and sticking to it.

    I found myself suffering from the most common IM diseases: information overload; paralysis of analysis; and shiny object syndrome. Symptoms are: feeling overwhelmed; lack of focus; confusion; depression; frustration; and spending more money than you're making.

    So, as a result, I did not consistently add content to my blog/website and I did not consistently build a list in the profitable niche I was/am in, which could have made all the difference in terms of making some money sooner. Building a list is also important when it comes to positioning yourself to make BIG money online.

    You want to leverage your assets so they will generate passive income.

    Creating an action plan, creating systems and building a list are the three main things I wish I had done sooner.

    However, it is never too late to be GREAT!
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    Make every day count!
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  • Profile picture of the author cyberzolo
    Not taking ACTION. Simple I wished I hopped on the IM train earlier than I did.
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    My biggest mistake was to believe that I knew what was necessary about internet marketing, while I was totally ignorant.

    Even after so many years, I’m still learning. Internet marketing is a complex system.

    You have to learn all the details before taking action. Otherwise, you will make many costly mistakes.






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  • Profile picture of the author Phantom X
    The mistakes that I made is probably the same mistake that 99% of internet marketers make when they first start off. I would read all this great information, and then never really take action. I would sometimes take action, but the productivity would stop in like a week when I saw no quick results which is another problem and mistake that I had. I had the wrong mentality to believe I would see such quick results, especially as a newbie internet marketer.
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  • Profile picture of the author ijohnson
    Creating a PASSIVE income is also a great way to go.

    Example: Creating an ebook, Kindle book, PLR or a WSO where you do the work once and get paid over and over.

    An example of RESIDUAL income would be setting up a membership site, or promoting an affiliate product that pays a residual commission, i.e., Aweber, HostGator, certain types of insurance programs, etc. In gist, you will receive residual income or commissions as long as the person who purchased from your offer continues to purchase the service or renews their membership.
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    Make every day count!
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert X
    I still to this day I wish I had built a website, added good content and had a lead capture form. I did build some sites and let them fade away even when they made money. I had the shiny object syndrome and jumped from thing to thing. My least favorite was teespring. I don't care what anyone says about that.

    I just wish I would have stuck to the basics that work time and time again. Build a website, offer good and great content, gather leads, build lists, and sell products to those that are interested in those niches. It's a simple formula that has worked as long as business has been around.

    It seems that most people, especially newbies over complicate things. It's pretty simple. Seek out Frank Kern on Youtube to find out how it all works.

    Robert C.

    The Warrior Syndicate
    Warrior Forum Underground.
    Bringing you the truth to making money online and--------------> Great guy
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  • Profile picture of the author AffEngineer
    A late start. Would have loved to start early before things were this easy. Now there's all these tools/builders that make things REALLY easy to do. If I got in back in the day when you needed to learn things from scratch, it would have been harder, but I would have had a way bigger competitive edge then most people for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author VivekThakur
    And mine is i remain stay in one place where i didn't get much opportunities (advanced) and remain stick on basics. I always getting information and knowledge but not get opportunity to implement them. but now i get a very good opportunity and leaving and want to grow my carrier in advanced marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author AaronHarris
    Jumping from one idea to another. When I feel that this idea is not getting any better, I instantly jump off the idea and start focusing on another one without exerting real effort to make the first one better.

    Better to focus on one idea at a time and out more effort on it. Give your best shot as long as you are not losing more, it is still worth a try.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Maggs
    The biggest mistakes in my career...mmm that's an interesting one. I suppose the biggest was not understanding what markov generators could achieve back in the days when you could make a killing on Adsense.

    I looked at the content generated by these tools and thought "what"? That's unreadable to the human eye, where is the value in that?, but if I had used them I would have been pretty rich at the time.

    My second regret would be not doing enough "bum marketing" in the good old Ezine articles days, I made good money there, but I could have done a lot better had I not been lazy.

    The third would be not getting into Bitcoins when they started, that would have been a great investment.

    Nowadays if I see something works I jump on it, but I do my research to see "why it works"

    So to sum up I'd say not knowing a good thing when it hit me in the face.
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  • 3 big mistakes I see new people make:

    #1. Not knowing exactly where you want to go. (No definite Plan / Destination)
    #2. Not knowing how to get there. (No Road map / Tour guide)
    #3. Packing a heavy suitcase and going on the IM trip with #1 and #2 as your compass.
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  • Profile picture of the author guitarizma
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Edlund88 View Post

    Like that title says, What do you think is the biggest mistakes you have made since you started your internet marketing journey?

    I would say that one of my biggest mistakes when i started and for a long time, was that i did not focus on one thing. I always tried like 2-3 things at a time, and when it didn't work i just jumped over to the next thing, never really sticking to one thing and putting all effort there.
    My biggest mistake was expecting everyone around me to be honest. And yes tire kickers were a problem too. They still are.
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  • Profile picture of the author DURABLEOILCOM
    Not starting a list from the very start.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by Edlund88 View Post

    What do you think is the biggest mistakes you have made since you started your internet marketing journey?
    The combination of not discovering this entire world of making money online earlier...

    And not getting a coach quickly enough
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Stopping and starting over... over and over again. I must have did it for about 4 years. Then one day i said i'm not starting anything over, and i'ma just let the business build for 5 years straight, and then go from there. Best business decision i ever made.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron Killian
    My biggest mistake was to reply to much on one main traffic source, such as G.

    Also, not re-investing, creating other traffic and income streams.
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  • Profile picture of the author kre8ivecanada
    My biggest mistake was not seeing how important it was to stick to one thing at a time and follow through. Before I knew it, I had a bunch of half completed projects that all had enormous potential.
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  • Profile picture of the author SDHodgson
    I am still pretty new to IM but the two biggest lessons I've learned so far:
    Spreading myself too thin instead of focusing on one thing
    Trying to pay for traffic when I had (and still relatively do) have no clue what I'm doing

    Now, I am just focusing on building my blog in the fitness niche (which I have ALOT of experience)and trying different free methods to drive traffic to it. With the blog, I plan to incorporate a double opt-in mailing list for quality content to build trust with my clients.
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    • Profile picture of the author AffEngineer
      Originally Posted by SDHodgson View Post

      I am still pretty new to IM but the two biggest lessons I've learned so far:
      Spreading myself too thin instead of focusing on one thing
      Something everyone learns in due time.
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  • Profile picture of the author AuthorityBuilder
    Originally Posted by Edlund88 View Post

    Like that title says, What do you think is the biggest mistakes you have made since you started your internet marketing journey?

    I would say that one of my biggest mistakes when i started and for a long time, was that i did not focus on one thing. I always tried like 2-3 things at a time, and when it didn't work i just jumped over to the next thing, never really sticking to one thing and putting all effort there.
    My biggest mistake was not not taking action to the stuff I knew.
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