5 Common Pitfalls for Internet Marketers

Anyone who enters into the world of Internet Marketing will encounter certain challenges.  I seriously doubt that any successful marketer did not at some point in time have to learn to deal with these pitfalls and find a way to overcome them.  If you are struggling in one or more of these areas, you are not alone.  However, your future success does depend in some part on how well you maneuver your way through them.  Here they are.

1.  Information Overload

Anyone who works online feels overwhelmed with information.  The very nature of the internet makes this inevitable.  How we deal with all the information and the feeling of being overwhelmed by it is what matters.  One of the first things we need to do is take an honest look at the sources of our problem.

• Is it email?  Are we on too many people’s lists?  There is value in being on good marketer’s lists.  But, how many is too many?  Be selective.
• Is it Facebook?  Are we spending too much time in groups or following others?
• Is it Google?  One of the most difficult and most dangerous ways to try and learn to market online is to simply do a Google search for something like “How to make money online.”  This is how I started and I do NOT recommend it.  It is a great way to go insane
• Is it all the courses and training programs that we have signed up for?  Does this sound familiar?  Have you ever bought eBooks or joined a training course only to download it with great anticipation and then never even look at it?  I know I have.
• Is it reading Blogs?  I love reading good Internet Marketing Blogs and highly recommend it.  But, like everything else we are talking about here, the key is doing all things in moderation.

What is the answer?  One of the greatest things to learn in life is balance.  None of these things are bad in themselves, but if we let them overtake us and our time, then we are out of balance and suffer the consequences.  Schedule your time and allot a certain amount of time for these activities each day.  When that time is over, move on to the next part of your day.  Whatever it is, it can wait.

2.  Education Mode

I truly believe that one of the best things you can do for your business is invest in your own education and training.  However, one of the biggest pitfalls for beginning marketers is that they never leave education mode and start to apply what they are learning.  Or at the very least, they wait too long.

What is the answer?  My advice is to earn why you learn.  YES, spend time, energy and money on your education and training.  You cannot skip this step.  But, you can also put yourself out there and start taking action every day while you are learning.  The sooner you are taking action and applying what you learn the sooner you will get results and it is the results, no matter how small that motivates your continued learning.  And it is your continued learning applied to your business that brings more results.  Do you see it?

3.  Shiny Object Syndrome

Let’s face it.  There are lots of cool shiny objects floating around the internet.  There are many promises of easy and quick success.  There are many programs promising to show you how to make X amount in X many days.  There are many guru’s promising the easy button to success.  They look so good, they look so shiny!  I want success like that guy has, so I buy his program.  I want quick success, so I download that book or take that course.  I want to be like her so I join her list and read her every work and buy all her offers.  Do you see a pattern here?

What is the answer?  Focus!  Pick one program, business or product to promote.  Then pick one marketing strategy to promote your business and master that strategy.  Learn everything you can about it.  Take action on it daily.  Fail and try again.  Tweak and adjust and then do it all over again.  Stay at it until you get results.  Then you are ready to take on something else.  You may not even need to.

 

4.  Fear

This may seem overly simplistic, but don’t let this one pass you by.  Fear can immobilize us.  Fear can keep us from taking action.  Fear can steal our hope and our passion.  Fear can and will re-route our path if we let it.

What is the answer?  Spend time working on your mindset every day.  Most good online businesses and programs offer some kind of help in this area.  It may be a morning wake up call.  It may be audios or eBooks.  Whatever method you choose, you need to spend some time at the beginning of your day getting your mindset right.

Confession time.  I used to mock this type of thinking.  I used to laugh at people who talked about having a positive mindset.  I was dead wrong.  There is nothing more powerful or more important to your long term success.  Ask any successful entrepreneur if they spend time on their mindset.  I promise you they do and so should you.

I joined a community that helps me get my mindset right.  Check it out here.

5.  Blowing in the wind

This is the underlying problem that leads to all of these pitfalls.  Not knowing what your goal is.  Not knowing who it is you’re trying to target.  Not knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there.

Does this sound like you?  I need to make money so I turned to the internet to make some money online.  I read something that said, do it this way, and off I went.  Then I watched a video of someone who seemed to be making money and they said do this.  So I did.  Then I met someone on Facebook and they said, no do this instead and I am off and running again.  This is how most people are attempting to make money online.  By the way, it doesn’t work.  This is why so many people fail.  They have no plan and no idea what they are trying to accomplish.

Yes, the end goal is to make money.  But, that is not specific enough to get you there.  You need to STOP and do the hard work of figuring out what it is you want to do and how it is you are going to get there.  Develop a plan, stick to it and tune out everything else.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Be willing to swallow your pride and reach out to people who are further along than you are.  One of the biggest surprises me when I started online was how open and helpful the community is.

Until next time,

Wade Hopkins

Check out the System I use to Learn and Earn!  I am currently generating 10-20 leads per day with this awesome Attraction Marketing System.  Give it a test drive today!