My biggest mistakes online, and why you need to overcome them yourself

This has been a very slow time for me. Somehow, this time of year made me stop and think about where I want to go and why. I know, I know, this is supposed to only happen on new year’s but what can I say? I’m a bit slow.

Anyways, after detoxing from hype by unsubscribing from numerous lists I’ve been on, and trying frantically to limit my inbox intake to a bare minimum, I’m now trying 3 different business models to see which one I should move forward with.

See, after thinking about my 2 years online I was shocked and embarrassed to see what I had done (had not done is the more correct in my case). Gmail didn’t make this any easier on my soul as I could look at all of the emails and look at my shame head on. I made so many mistakes that I’m almost too ashamed to admit. Regardless, I’ll list them here because I think a lot of people will recognize these patterns as well, and maybe you’ll join me in actually running online businesses and not drowning in hype. I want to start a mini revolution telling it how it is so you’ll know what you’re getting yourself into when you start your “business” online.

So here goes:
1 – Affiliate is the way to go
Being an affiliate has its advantages – you don’t need to create any of the products, the websites, the copy, the marketing funnel, the upsells. You can do this right now without any money and with minimal work. Right?
Wrong.
If you only want to make 1 sale then this is true. But if you want to move online with any significant income, then you’ll need to put affiliation as part of YOUR business. That means you need to learn how to build a list and maintain it, or how to do effective advertising (PPC and the likes) and manage it, or how to get first page Google rankings and maintain them etc etc.
And don’t forget who makes the most money in this deal – it’s the product creator. As their affiliate, you are their salesman working solely on results, and you’re competing against a lot of other affiliates promoting the same product. (So in time I suggest you create your own products and let affiliates work for you.)
As I said, you might be able to pull off a sale here and there but for the most part you’ll need some kind of edge to make it online as an affiliate

2 – Content is king (so buy this PLR)
Let me ask you this – if I hand you the complete product set that an online business sells for millions a year, would you be able to make money with it?
Think about it.
The content is superb and you know it sells but will it sell for YOU?
See, content on its own does not make a business. If you’re still worried about content, I’ll even teach you how to get prime content for nothing (just comment below so I’ll know to post about it). But content does NOT make a business. Once you have a business, then you need good quality content. On its own, content doesn’t help you all that much.
So learn how to build a business or you’ll fail even with the best content there is.

3 – Push button systems
I was a real sucker for these. They sound so good that you can’t let them pass you by. Just buy it, push a button and voila’, sales come to you.
Or not.
It’s not that the systems aren’t good. They are. But they do the exact same thing for you and for anyone else. So your offering turns into a commodity since there’s nothing to distinguish between you or anyone else. You’re just one fish in a pool with a million others. And with no differentiation, you’re not going to do well.

4 – Not learning marketing
This one’s a biggie. Especially online. They don’t call us internet marketers for nothing you know. It’s not internet sales nor is it internet production. Nope. It’s internet MARKETING and that’s because marketing is the one and only thing you’ll need to do to be successful.
You could have the best products, with the best designed website and first page rankings – and still fail. How? Well in this example, if you’ve targeted the wrong audience then you’ll fail. If you’re selling something that’s not for them, ditto. If they think your offer is good but they need to think about it, you loose. And a million other reasons.
Marketing is the one thing you should learn over and above anything else.

5 – No mentor
So much to do, so little time. So why waste it on doing the exact same mistakes others before you have? Why not learn how to push through your own limitations, learn how to focus on what works for you, learn how to get to your goals in a hurry?
Look at athletes – have you ever seen an athlete without a coach? Even if they are the best in the world at what they do (so supposedly they don’t have anything new to learn in their field), they still have trainers to work with them and make them even better.
So if it works for the best of the best, why would you even consider being without a mentor?
There’s no one successful that doesn’t have a mentor and loads of people that are struggling and don’t have one. Which group do you see yourself in?
Get a mentor.

6 – I’ll do it all myself
I used to think this all the time. The internet is perfect for this – you work on your own terms from home, by yourself. But in reality there’s so much to do that you need help. And it gets lonely so you need people to brainstorm with. You need partners for your campaigns.
In short, forget about doing it all yourself and start interacting with your customers, your potential partners, gurus in your niche, people on the warriors forum etc etc. And don’t forget to ask for help when you need it. You’ll get help. And never forget to help someone else if you can when they’re stuck.

7 – No planning
I hate planning. When I say hate, I mean HATE. There’s nothing more alien to my DNA than planning. Yet I had to learn how to do it to get my focus and start getting results. One of the things that shocked me was to see how much time I wasted and how little I got done when I went online. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people are the same. I didn’t want to look back 3 years from now and see that I was still struggling, so my mentor told my I had to plan.
Long story short, I now make a daily to do list and will not go online without a detailed to do list. I also do what’s on that list first so as not to get distracted.
This is the only way to move forward consistently so whatever you do – plan

I made a ton of mistakes but those 7 are the biggest. I plan on making a ton more mistakes as part of taking action, but none of them will be as huge as those 7. In a nutshell, those 7 mistakes made sure I had no real chance of making it online, even though I was making some money.

I suggest you learn from my mistakes and not make these yourself. Of course, if you recognize any of these you’re making then you can fix them. It’s easier said than done (believe me I know) but it’s still worth it.

In my next post I’ll be talking about the 3 business models I’m currently exploring. If my list of mistakes resonates with you, let’s hear it; You can comment on this post.
Of course, if you’ve never done any of these mistakes you’re probably lying to yourself and in denial.