I know you've
been there. You thought it was easy to
make money online through setting up a website or blog, purchasing a domain
name or even picking up a free domain name through Blogger or Wordpress, linking
affiliate products to it from Clickbank or Clicksure, added some Adsense ads to
generate some free money, optimized the website by adding some really good keywords,
added some content, then you've sat back and hoped that would attract a lot of
free traffic and the money would roll in.
Sounds good, but sorry it doesn't quite happen like that. What people don’t realise is it still takes a
bit of consistent hard work and sweat equity before the money starts rolling
in.
Here's a list
of common mistakes people have made when trying to make money online:
1.
Thinking you need money to start your online
business. Well to start off with, you don't. You can set up a free blog through
Blogger.com or through Wordpress and just follow their tutorials. You can even go search on Youtube and find
out how to set up a free website or blog.
If you want to get started Blogger is one of the easiest ways to
start. It's quick, easy, and it's free,
i.e. no monthly webhosting fee, no need to purchase a URL. Once you've set that up just link some Adsense
ads into it, write up some content or articles.
Go over to Ezine Articles and find some free content there and copy and
paste that into your site. But just
remember, give credit to the original source.
Read the copyright rules in Ezine Articles to save being penalized. But hey, you're just getting started
here. Of course the best information
should come from you. You can add your
own content later when you get more confidence or have more time. Just get it started and get your site online. You don't have to be perfect because you can
change it as you go. Then sign up into
Clickbank marketplace, which is also free, and find some products to add to
your site.
2.
Thinking you have to hire a Webmaster or Web
designer to design a website or have a lot of experience to a blog or website. Guess what? You don't.
Just follow the tutorials in whichever site builder you want to use,
e.g. Blogger or Wordpress or search Youtube or the web on how to. There's a lot of free information out
there. Use it to get started. Start generating money first, and then maybe
later purchase other things to automate some of the work and free up some time.
3.
Not having a goal. It's so
important to have a goal, and WRITE IT DOWN.
Just write it on a piece of paper, in a notebook. What I've always done is purchased these
really cheap school notebooks around the time they're on special, or just use
your kid's old notebooks they haven't used.
They're easy to carry around or store away for easy access. Read your goals every morning and every night
if you can, a minimum of once a day. You
will be amazed at what that will do.
Believe me, it works! When
writing down your goals, use the S.M.A.R.T. principles: Be SPECIFIC, MEASUREABLE, ACHIEVABLE or
ATTAINABLE,TIME-BASED. Set long term
goals and then break them down into short term goals. It's important to break down goals into tiny
steps, e.g. daily goals. Have you heard
this, "How do you Eat An Elephant?
One bite at a time." That's how
a goal should be; one step at a time - one bite at a time.
4.
Not having a plan. You've got to have some sort of plan.
Would you build a house without a plan?
No, I didn't think so. Not having
a plan is like sailing a boat without a rudder. First of all, work out how much time you are
going to commit to this business. If you
work full time as well and want this as a part time business, work out how much
time you can afford to build it. You can't
use the excuse that you don't have enough time.
Believe me, some of the most successful internet marketers in the world
have started off working full time, and having other family commitment to cope
with. It's a myth when they say you have
to have 8 hours of sleep a night. You
only need 4. Most people sleep for about
7 to 8 hours a night, but only 3 to 4 will be quality sleep. You just need to learn how to relax or wind
down before going to sleep. Read a book,
read your goals, listen to some soft music. I go to bed about 10.30pm most nights and my
internal clock wakes me about 4.30am. I'm
up at 5.00am, check emails and my business until 6.00am and then do exercise
for an hour (another article on it's own).
Break down each step. Here's something to start you off:
·
Set some Goals
·
Find a niche market (Niche Plan)
·
Find a product or products to sell on Clickbank
·
Create a Blog or Website
·
Monetize your Blog, e.g. add some information, content or articles, add affiliate
products, Adsense, Keywords, etc.
·
Drive traffic (Traffic Plan)
Of course these have to be broken down
even further adding times to them as well (timeline). For me, when I started I spent a minimum
of an hour a day in my business, learning, adding content, creating traffic,
checking email, adding comments to Facebook and Twitter, etc. Remember if you had a laptop, Smart phone or
Ipad, you can be anywhere in the world building this business. Isn't technology great.
5. Lack
of confidence in themselves. The best
way to conquer this is build up your knowledge base. Search the internet for ways to build up your
confidence. Learn all about building a
business online. All this information
here will take time for you to work through.
You will be working through Clickbank tutorials, website tutorials, Youtube
lessons. A half an hour a day building up the knowledge
will pay off in the end. Just don't EVER
give up. It took me 2 years to make
money online because my brain got overloaded and I just went off into different
tangents. Of course the best way to
succeed at first is to follow someone else who's been successful, but their
programmes can cost. Start off for free
and then when you've got the money later, purchase programmes. But please be careful what you purchase. There are lots of scams out there, believe me, I learnt the hard way, but the good news sometimes you have to fail to win, that's how you learn. I want to save you from making those same mistakes I did. If you're unsure search Google and type in the programme they are selling then the words "scam". But read it properly because sometimes these sites are just trying to take you away from a good product and intice you into buying something they are promoting.
6. Being
a perfectionist. Yes this was my
problem when I started. I ended up
wasting time tweaking this and tweaking that, and then ended up wasting a lot
of time. Don't worry about being perfect
at first. Just get your site on line. Make your website simple, don't add all the
bells and whistles to it. Check other
people's sites out - check out what's good and what's bad in their site.
7. Procrastination. I'm sure we all do it - procrastinate! This is where your goals and plan should kick
in. Write daily goals (a daily list) of
what you want to achieve. Try and stick
to your plan and times you set for yourself.
8. Not
being clear about a niche. Focus on
what you love. There are lots of niches
out there, e.g. weightloss, dog training, health, etc. Check out Google Adwords which is free. This will allow you to add a particular
keyword, for example "dogs", and it will come up with what people are
searching for to do with that subject or niche.
Again, focus on a niche that you
love. It helps to keep motivated.
To learn more on how to make money or creating websites, just add your details in the Optin box above and I will email you three free ebooks on how to make money. I will also forward you a copy of another great ebook on Blogging Simplified. Feel free to share other comments or mistakes people can make while trying to make money.
Good luck!
