10 Common Internet Marketing Mistakes
By Steve Weber
http://www.WeberInternetMarketing.com
I’ve
worked with many hundreds (if not thousands) of beginning marketers and I see
most of them making the same general mistakes. I have listed and explained
these mistakes below in order for you to learn correct online marketing
techniques.
These mistakes
apply to ALL types of Internet marketers. Stay-at-home moms working from home
or a small business wishing to capture some of the local online search market
or anyone else looking to the Internet to boost their income are all prone to
making these mistakes.
1. Looking for
Shortcuts: Most new marketers (including myself back in the day) fall for one
or another Internet marketing scam. These scams always promise “easy” ways to
succeed. Their premise is that there are “secret” shortcuts to online success.
Nothing could be further from the truth. ANY offer or package that promises
such things is, at best, far above the beginner’s ability...or it is an out and
out scam. The longer one looks for these shortcuts, the longer real success is
delayed.
2. Failing to
Understand the Definition of “Niche”: Beginners usually fail to take into
account the vast size of the Internet. They fail to understand the enormous
potential even in areas they deem to be “too tiny”. Beginning marketers must
spend time in areas where they will receive quick feedback as to whether or not
their techniques are working. If a new marketer takes on a large area instead
of a very small niche, the amount of time to get traction in the large area is
too long for the beginner to quickly learn from mistakes. It can’t be
over-stated just how vital it is for beginners to fully grasp the concept of
niche marketing. The majority of beginners choose too large of area. They
become frustrated and then simply quit. In fact, only about 2% of those who
attempt Internet marketing ever have much, if any, success. Remember, it is
MUCH better to enjoy a small piece of a small pie than NOTHING from too large
of pie. Beginners must never make the mistake of thinking that choosing a giant
area will result in at least “some” of the market trickling down to
them....that’s a HUGE mistake in thinking and simply not true.
3. Too Much
Planning and Not Enough Action: One of my favorite sayings is, “Relentless
Focused Action”. This philosophy is the key to online success. Massive action
is required to succeed. Too many beginners spend far too much time in
“planning” their online efforts and course of action. For one reason or another
they delay taking action. Success comes more quickly to those who jump right
in and learn WHILE taking action!
4. Fear of
“Failing Fast”: There is a favorite saying among Internet marketers. We all
believe in and practice the art of failing fast. Many beginners bring with them
old-school philosophies where failing in business resulted in severe
consequences; they fear failure. It is different with Internet marketing.
Online ideas can be tried quickly and with very little monetary risk. It’s a
reality that even successful marketers only have 1 or 2 ideas out of 5 or
10 that result in success. Just as a great salesman realizes that he must hear
a lot of “no’s” in order to make one sale, so too must new marketers embrace
the idea of implementing ideas very quickly in order to find one or two that
actually get traction. Beginning marketers see the success of ultra-successful
“gurus”, but what they fail to see are all the trials and tribulations those
gurus withstood in order to finally enjoy their success.
5. Trying to Use
Too Many Methods: New marketers learn there are many marketing methods that
work well. Then, they try to do them ALL! If one’s focus if spread across too
many areas, nothing will work. New marketers must find just a few techniques
they enjoy and can do well...and focus on those alone. In other words, if a
marketers enjoys making videos, then video marketing should be one of the 2 or
3 methods they focus on. Instead, too many new marketers do a video now and
then, submit and article now and then, write a blog post now and then,
participate in relative forums now and then, create a new page for their site
now and then, social bookmark now and then...and on and on with the “now and
then” marketing. Sure, the marketer is “busy” all the time, but not enough time
or focus is placed on any one thing in order to get traction with anything.
6. Failing to
Build Web Design Skills: Success online, 99% of the time, involves creating web
sites. In most cases, multiple web sites are required. Only in rare situations
can success be achieved without web design skills. Many new marketers believe
their first idea will be their “home run”. Rarely is this the case. For this
reason, hiring someone to build a web site simply leads to a dependence that
can’t be sustained. Beginners must learn to build their own sites; WordPress
makes this process very simple now days.
7. Starting and
Quitting Ideas Too Quickly: Patience is a virtue all successful marketers
either had in the beginning, or learned along the way. Success very rarely
comes quickly. For example, adding web site content, writing and submitting
articles, and social book marketing is a tried and proven combination of
methods. A beginner often spends a few weeks or even a month of regularly
writing content for their site and article directories and social bookmarking
those efforts. However, this is not long enough in order to observe much or any
success. Following that strategy religiously in a thoughtful and calculated way
for 4 to 8 months will almost always result in observable results. However,
when most beginners fail to see any results in a few weeks, they will ditch
that idea and begin over with another. This is repeated over and over until
frustration finally sends them on their way...away from Internet marketing.
8. Failing to
Understand the Nature of Most Success: Rarely does success come in one big
chunk. Usually it comes in small and hard to measure increments. These very
small successes are what eventually add up to real success. Beginners too often
expect to “hit it big” instead of having the patience to accumulate many small
successes. A little bit of traffic from here, a little bit from there, a few
sales from this, a few sales from that...and so on. That is how success usually
arrives.
9. Hard Work Alone
Is NOT a Guarantee For Success: All the hard work in the world is no guarantee
one will succeed. Too many beginners believe all they have to do is “pay their
dues” and success will be right around the corner. Here again, nothing could be
further from the truth. Misdirected hard work ONLY leads to frustration and
failure.
10. Waiting For
Some Success Before Building a List: The money is not “in the list” but the
money IS in how you work with your list. Too many beginners understand the
importance of building a list, but then delay the process “until they have some
success” in order to pay for an autoresponder service. No matter what form of
marketing one is doing, affiliate, AdSense, or selling one’s own goods and
services, a list is vital for success. Beginners often make the mistake in
thinking that their web site alone will result in their success. For affiliate
marketing and selling actual physical products on the site, it is 10 times
easier to get a new lead than it is to make a sale. ALSO, it is ten times
easier to sell to one’s list than it is to make a sale to a first time visitor.
No, I am not making these stats up; they are true virtually across the board
for all areas of online marketing. A quality autoresponder will cost about $20
per month for up to 500 leads. Beginners often fail to understand paying for an
autoresponder service each month will almost always result in the highest ROI
for any marketing method they use. In other words, 500 quality leads on one’s
list can result in income which makes the monthly cost a no-brainer.
There you have it!
Once beginning marketers correct and get past these common mistakes, they will
be well on their way to enjoying great success online!