In my conversation with Sandy Naidu, she asked:
In your experience what are some of the most common mistakes newbies make and if there is one piece of advice you could give a newbie what would that be?”
There are actually 7 common mistakes that I see “newbies” make when they enter Internet Marketing or start an online business…
Mistake #1: Not taking the time to get established online and earn credibility with your target market. Once you choose a niche, and while you are working out your content and/or product development and marketing campaigns, you should simultaneously be working towards marketing yourself. Join niche forums and network and answer questions (without an objective). Set up a blog and post several times a week for the first 90 days, etc.
Mistake #2: Giving up or claiming “it doesnt work” without investing proper time & energy into the venture. Whatever you choose to do, do it 100% before you decide it doesnt work. All too often I see people give up on their niche, or their business idea, before even giving it proper time to get established and begin to take off for them. Once you give up, that idea will not work, and you’ll never know if it might have worked beautifully.
Mistake #3: Asking how to get traffic to your new website in a popular Internet Marketing forum, with a “how to get traffic” link in your signature. Synonomous with asking how to start making decent money online with a link to a website about making money online. Be careful how you present yourself if you want to be taken seriously.
Mistake #4: Spamming discussion forums. Yes its true that forums and online communities are a great way to gain exposure, and there are even creative ways to make money posting on forums. Blatant promotion, or “spam”, is not one of them. This will actually hurt your credibility and your chance of getting visitors or sales - and will likely get you banned too.
Mistake #5: Not choosing a specific niche, or market. I’ve made this mistake myself to some degree, and I highly advise against it. Many people start out setting up a one-stop online store that carries everything from socks to electronics. They learn the hard way that its very hard to market and turn into a profitable long-term business. Pick a niche. Go one better and pick a micro-niche, even.
Mistake #6: Worrying about competition. I see many newbies operating out of fear and negativity - when the truth is that the more you network with other business owners in your niche, the more you stand to gain. I’ve also seen many back out and not develop their website or their product because they dont feel they can compete within the niche. Instead, they should look for the opportunity to provide something new - or something of value in association with existing products & offers within that niche.
Mistake #7: Not properly investing their time & money. Many newbies will buy one product after the other, and one opportunity after the other, but never use them - or implement the methods taught. Instead, it would be wise to purchase what you feel you might need, and use the program or test the method fully. If it doesnt work the way you need it to, or thought it would, get a refund. If it does, it was a great investment - not just another expense.
The one piece of advice I would offer to any “newbie”, meaning someone new to Internet Marketing or online business, is this:
Recognize Internet Marketing for the business opportunity that it is.
Commit yourself from the start to investing time and energy into your business venture, and set realistic goals. Then work consistently towards achieving those goals… until you do.
Sandy, in your response to me you said:
In my 6 months I have already made a few mistakes. I am enjoying the experience…Loving the mistakes too because what better way to learn than from one’s own mistakes.
I’d love to hear more about those mistakes, and what you learned from them…
Best,
Tags: newbies, internet marketing, work at home, wahm, working from home, online business
17 responses so far ↓
Bonnie // Oct 24, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Great topic, Lynn!
I think my biggest mistake was trying to do everything I saw other people doing — copywriting, info product creation, affiliate marketing, virtual real estate site creation, blogging, etc.
I learned a lot about a variety of Internet Marketing tactics and techniques while learning all those things, but didn’t give enough attention and focus to any one in particular to make any of them a big success.
So now I’m gonna go try something ELSE that’s new to me! (Hah!)
Lynn Terry // Oct 24, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I’m headed over to your blog to see if I can figure out what it is
- but you add a great point to the list. Its definitely something we’ve all fallen victim to, at least in the beginning!
Buzzer // Oct 24, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Great topic Lynn!
I know when I came on line I had the same struggles, one of them was spreading myself too thin. By that I mean trying everything and anything that I came across.
Finally got settled down and saw that it takes building relationships.
I m on facebook now and having a great time meeting lots of great new people send me a friend request if you’re on facebook!
Stefani // Oct 24, 2007 at 8:33 pm
I think you pointed some good mistakes out. I feel the #1 is giving up and then claiming it doesn’t work.
Cara // Oct 24, 2007 at 10:10 pm
I did everything but #3 & #4. Wish I had found the proper resources 7 months ago before wasting so much time and money!
Lynn Terry // Oct 24, 2007 at 10:11 pm
It might be different for each individual person, but I’m curious what you consider “the proper resources”? What has helped you most?
Shannon // Oct 26, 2007 at 10:58 am
Thanks!
I find myself bouncing around a lot… and spreading myself too thin…
I think a lot of these mistakes comes from desperation. Many people get into internet marketing because they need the money. This is not a good place to be in.
I started my career in internet marketing because I had an interest in making money online, but most importantly I NEEDED the money. With a wife, two children, and only my income, the need to make money is high.
And it’s this need that causes frustration when things don’t happen as quick as needed. And being frustrated is not good because you start to blame the process.
I’m guilty of this, but I try and keep myself grounded by reading to success stories of newbies who are making it online. I’m keeping my mind positive through the works of Napoleon Hill.
But it’s still hard to stick to one process and follow through for months with hopes that in the end it will work out. Especially when you get a new post in your rss reader that xxxxx made $xxx from xxxxx by doing xxxxx. Your mind automatically says… ohhh… I have to try that…
~Shannon
Lynn Terry // Oct 26, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Great addition to the discussion, Shannon. Being both persistent and consistent are definitely keys to success with an online business.
FYI, awhile back I did an interview on Focus and shared “the one thing you should focus on”. You can still listen to that online at: http://crazywebguy.com/lynn-terry.htm
Enjoy
Lois // Oct 27, 2007 at 5:03 am
Hi Lynn
Great points - even for those of us who have been running on online business for years, there is still so much to learn.
I had started my business long before the Internet and then adapted it (as it happens, my home exchange business is a perfect fit as an online business). Something I’ve noticed though, the competition in our small niche sector of the travel market is over saturated with new agencies starting (and others folding) almost weekly.
I think, as it’s much cheaper and easier to set up an online business than it is a business that perhaps requires premises with all the other expenses that follow from that, there are many people with little or no business knowledge setting up online businesses without doing the necessary research to see if there is a gap in the market first. As a result, they end up offering their services for free for months on end just to try to attract interest amongst the competition from many other similar businesses that are also struggling. Not taking the time to thoroughly research an online business idea seems a huge and potentially costly mistake.
Cheers
Lane Lester // Oct 27, 2007 at 6:10 am
I see the wisdom of #1, but it seems to fly in the face of all the gurus promoting PLR approaches (including 20/20). Unless you’ve joined the pyramid scheme of promoting IM products to IM wannabees like yourself, you’re going to be building and selling a bunch of different products about which you know very little (golf, fishing, cheap loans, etc.).
Maybe the lesson is that, unless you’re going to market IM stuff to IMs, forget PLR and find a niche you already know a lot about or are willing to invest a lot of time and effort learning.
Lynn Terry // Oct 27, 2007 at 8:29 am
Or… buy additional PLR, joint venture with content writers, employ cheap ghostwriters etc and use all of that to populate your blog. You can also hire forum posters pretty cheap. You can easily make a business out of just about anything online - the resources are there. Its just a matter of treating it like a business
But I do agree that its MUCH easier to work within a niche you are into, or passionate about.
Lynn Terry // Oct 27, 2007 at 8:34 am
Great points, Lois. I imagine it is the low cost of entry and the very few requirements for start-up that create these issues. But for those that are true entrepreneurs, and that are serious about their business venture, there is certainly plenty of opportunity for success!
Maher Dosoqi // Oct 27, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thanks Lynn, Great Article as Usual!
I made few mistakes and believe will still discover more
As being an Old-Fashioned student who likes to learn by the hard way, I never buy a product or an e-Book before reading reviews and feedbacks… also, unless am 100% sure that I will spare enough time and enery to utilize it and make the most out of it.
In the SEO world, you have to take it slowly.. there are so much to learn.
One of my mistakes was “Giving Up Quickly”.. untill I have discovered that this is not a valid word in the SEO dictionary
Keep ‘em coming!
Internet Marketing - Basics and More » My 8 Costly Mistakes…. // Oct 28, 2007 at 7:57 am
[...] In her blog post Lynn Terry asked me to list some of the mistakes I have made since starting my internet marketing business (you can find Lynn’s question here - Lynn’s Question To Me) [...]
Anita // Oct 29, 2007 at 7:29 am
Hey Lynn! Great post!
Mind if I share this post with my message board readers? With proper credit of course
Lynn Terry // Oct 29, 2007 at 7:34 am
Not at all, Anita
Anita // Oct 29, 2007 at 8:19 am
Thanks Lynn! Since I tend to get a lot of “newbies” to my boards, I thought this to be a nice fit
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