What are you waiting for? Do you think that studying all those methods, secrets, and techniques is going to make you money? I have had to answer that question for myself again and again. Have you?
What is it that holds us back? Fear? I think fear of the unknown is what holds most of us back.
We are afraid that our website will not compare well against the thousands if not millions of websites and web pages floating in cyberspace. Well. Get over it!
We fear that our writing will be criticized by our readers. So what! Are you afraid of some unnamed critic without a face? Your high school teacher is not watching!
Newbies, unite! Why do so many newbies fail? There are many reasons. You get discouraged because you don’t make a sale in the first few weeks. You hear all the gurus telling you that you can or will make thousands of dollars, maybe hundreds of thousands, within days of using their secret formula. Most of those gurus have been at this for ten or more years. How long have you been at it?
Do you remember your first car? Unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, it was probably a clunker. Were you proud of it? Did you take your girlfriend or boyfriend for ride? Did that old clunker get you from here to there? Were you afraid of what others would say about it? No. You were on the road. You had freedom. You were moving.
When did you upgrade to a newer hotter car? Probably after, you started making some money. What is the difference between your old clunker of a car and your clunker website? None. You have to start somewhere. The point is YOU have to start.
We fear that our readers will criticize our writing. Are you afraid someone is going to send you an “F” for poor composition or grammar? I do not mean to say that you should throw grammar or composition to the wind. I am saying that you can express yourself much more freely than when you were in school. Besides, that is what editors are for. (Note the “for” at the end of that last sentence. I think it is called a dangling preposition. I would get an “F” for that.)
I just received an email a few minutes ago from a fellow internet marketer, David Saeger (The Home Biz Guy) on the same subject!
Here is what he said, “Ready, FIRE, then aim … This is the operating philosophy you MUST adopt to succeed with a home based business. That’s backwards for most people who like to aim before they fire.”
In Internet marketing, that is a good philosophy. You have to start. You have to move. The Internet changes daily. What you learn today, what works today, may not work tomorrow.
Most businesses struggle their first year before they see a profit not to mention the initial monetary investment to start the business. In internet marketing, you don’t have that concern.
Give it a year. If after that time, you still are not making money maybe you should reconsider. However, that assumes that you have really done something other than study and read about it.
Take action! Just do it!
I have been there. If you are just starting out, you need something that gives you a step-by-step map from someone who hasn’t forgotten the frustrations of trying to get started. Get my book, Writing On The Web and get started on the right foot!
Pavol,
Thank you for your insightful comment. I am particularly impressed with your insight about “thinking as an employee”.
That is so very true. It is not in our best interests to approach IM in any other way than to treat it as a business, our business. It would be wise to have a business plan.
Carlos
What I found the most difficult was the fact that there was no one to blame, and there was no one to tell you what needs to be done.
My upbringing was very simple – go to school, get a good job (by good, it was meant a job that can support you), have a family and then… well, there really was no “then”. When it comes to finances, it was always about saving money + getting raises at your job. Working for yourself…that’s just too dangerous.
This is how the society, school, and even parents think, that’s how they are taught to think. And this thinking is the hardest for me to break free from. This thinking leads to procrastination. It leads to not believing in your own abilities. It leads to inability to manage your own time and work.
At your regular job, there’s always someone to tell you what has to be done; they tell you what hours you must work; they tell you if you need to work overtime – there’s always a clear direction already set for you. When you work for yourself, you have to manage this alone.
Basically, my biggest problem is to stop thinking like an employee, and wait for directions to be handed to me. I think that’s why newbies fall for every “blueprint” and “program” gurus throw at them. They still need someone to tell them what needs to be done.
I believe once you break free from this kind of thinking, you will truly become a businessman.
This Articel rockes THANKS!!!!
Miss TerraK,
Thank you very much for your kind words. I guess I will always be a Newbie at heart. I understand the frustrations a new person experiences just starting out. Experienced IM’ers tend to forget that they too had the same problems and often let it go to their heads and try to take advantage of others.
Thank you,
Carlos
Carlos, I just wanted to thank you for having such an informative site that truly should be read by every person just starting out in their internet marketing endeavors.
There are so many sharks circling the inexperienced marketer swimming around and searching the oceans of information on the net, just waiting to devour them with sharp cutting teeth!
So many of them are diligently seeking someone to help them find their way only to be taken in and in too many cases, financially devastated, and personally wounded. These type of so-called marketers give all the honest and well meaning marketers a bad name!
But your site here is honest, truthful and full of valuable information, a must for the marketer just starting out and the one at the just considering it stage! Thank you, we need to see more sites like this. I will personally recommend it!
By the way, you had me at “I am what is labeled as a newbie” in your post under the Getting Started Category. ; )
MissTerraK
Hi Dee,
Thanks for dropping by. Thanks for subscribing.
To Your Success, As Well
Carlos
Carlos, this is really solid advice for newbies. Finding ONE thing and learning to be successful at it will build confidence and put a smile on anyone’s face.
I like your site. I am subscribing to your rss
Success to you,
Dee
Kagoshimachris,
Your comments are well taken. Unfortunately, many lack the confidence to keep on keeping on. If we can help people understand what they need to do and have them do it, then we will all be better off. In other words, teach them how to fish and not hand them the fish.
Carlos
In my short life, fear of the unknown has never held me back and as such, I’ve had the chance to go to 23 different countries and now I live in Japan. For me, what’s held me back on building websites with an intent to earn money is a fear of success. Too many times people hold themselves back because they secretly don’t believe they deserve to be able to create a passive income. Even now, when I see my adsense income increasing, a little part of me tells me I’ve done something bad. The truth is, if you’re willing to do the work and if someone else can find value in it, who are you to not be successful? It is after all, your brain they produced the idea, your time that created the content, your money that bought the domain and paid for the hosting. So if you’re thinking you don’t deserve it, do your best and you will.