The drop out rate of people that try Internet Marketing and then give up is in the 90% plus bracket. Not a great statistic but if you are thinking about it then as long as you are well informed and avoid these common mistakes you will be in the 5-10% bracket of people that do make it!

Mistake #1

Fast Cash.

The number one reason for people dropping out is because they expect too much, too soon. When they don’t get it they quit. Starting up online for the first time is learning a brand new industry and there is a lot to take in and learn. When I started I made a loss in my first year, I set my expectations before I started though, I was setting up my own business and had so much to learn. I was still happy after my first year loss because in that 12 month period I had learned what doesn’t work and was starting to see what could and did work. I knew year 2 was going to be different and it would be worth the wait!

Mistake #2

Trying Too Many Different Techniques.

Online marketing has many sub categories, for example Affiliate Marketing, MLM, Adsense etc. Each can take time to master and the more you attempt the less you will achieve. Everyone will tell you that Internet marketing is about multiple streams of income. Yes this is true but the only way to achieve this is to take on one and master it first. Only when you have done this should you take on the next one. This links partially with the next mistake…

Mistake #3

System Hopping

When you pay your money and join one of the many online business systems, after a short space of time of not making any money there will be the temptation to hop to the next system you see being marketed. Save your money as the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. A good, experienced Internet marketer will take any of these systems and make an absolute fortune with them. Equally an inexperienced newbie will make nothing with any of them initially. If you are in a system already and not making money and thinking about investing in another don’t. Your money will be much better invested in some training on generating traffic or something equally relevant to your personal development in this industry.

Mistake #4

No Help Or Support

Many online business systems promote the person you join through being your mentor but unfortunately a lot of the so called “mentors” are so busy making their own fortunes they have little interest in helping you. Please don’t be tempted to go with the mentor with the pictures of the flashest car or home unless you have tested them first. Try and make contact with them before you sign up if they don’t respond in an acceptable time take this as a warning. You want an approachable helpful mentor. With the drop out rate I mentioned at the top of this article the mentors can get very rich and still have time to help dedicated, committed people. Any online business system has many people promoting it so ask what the individual will offer over someone else. Also what incentives they will offer to join them over other individuals. My help came from my mentor but also the other people in my marketing support group. When friends and family don’t understand or support your online venture having friends and support online makes all the difference.

Starting up online is a fantastic way to make a living. Patience and determination are key to success but having the right attitude about your online venture is very important. It is a business and should be thought of in that way. It’s not about getting a few websites up and pestering your friends and family to join your downline. It’s a real business and you should have a vision for where it is going, you should have a business plan and if you really want it to take off then a marketing budget is a must!

Yes, all the top online mentors will help and show you the best free methods of marketing, how to use social networks and other similar methods to get leads for your business but do you think they rely on the free methods alone? No they don’t. They will have newspaper adverts in the press, Google Adwords Pay Per Click ads running, they will purchase leads, rent lists and many other paid resources that are available.

I fell for all of the usual mistakes when I started online. I went directly to the newspaper to place my ads, this was before I knew about the brokers that exist that can place ads in these newspapers on your behalf for cheaper than going direct to the newspaper. The brokers buy advertising space from the newspapers in bulk so can offer it you for cheaper. The broker I use in the UK even has a late deal mailing list so I get emails when they are trying to fill a space in one of the papers and you can get it even cheaper than normal.

The money is in the list right? Did you know you can rent a list of about 20,000 people for one email broadcast for about £400-£500.

Structured correctly with a profitable product for sale and you could double your money easily and remember when someone has purchased off you they are your customer and you can contact them again with more offers in the future. People buy again from people they’ve purchased from before and trust.

Pay Per Click! This has grown my business like no other means! However be warned!! The likes of Google make it very easy for you to set-up a campaign and get your advert online in a few minutes but unless you know what you are doing then all this will do is empty your bank account into Google’s and you’ll have nothing to show for it. It’s worth taking the time to master this. I wasted so much money in the early days by trial and error with Pay Per Click. I fronted up $500 for a PPC Mastery Course and that was one of the best $500 I’ve ever spent! The techniques when you know them are very simple but make so much difference. I’ve spent £30-£50 before this and only got 1-2 opt ins to my list. They weren’t very targeted either. These days I’m paying around the £2 mark for a lead and they are highly targeted that often convert.

It is your business, take it seriously and if there are things you don’t know or understand take the time to find someone that has the knowledge and will teach you. Even if it costs you it is an investment in your business that should be well worth the time and money.

People join up to systems online every hour of every day. All promise potential earnings of something or another. Many promise the chance to make life changing sums of money.

Everyone wants to know that all important question, when will I make money and how much?

As someone that markets some of these systems I get this question every day! It is however a very difficult question to answer! It depends on many things. How much you know already about Internet marketing? How much time you will commit to making this work on a daily basis or weekly basis? These are 2 very key components.

Simply put little effort will result in little earnings, maximum effort will result in maximum earnings.

Mindset is very important, you have to believe in yourself and keep positive and not give up.

If it takes 6 months before you make anything isn’t it worth 6 months of your time? In fact if it takes a year of hard work and effort before you make anything wouldn’t it be worth it? I’m talking about once you’ve learnt and applied all the methods you are taught you can be making obscene amounts of money. 5K or more a week is very achievable! Now do you see what “worth waiting for means”?

The problem can be that people can be lazy and want get rich quick schemes. These rarely exist if you want to stay on the right side of the law but if you are a motivated person from any background you have the potential to be a top earner online. There is a lot to learn. You are learning a new industry and this doesn’t always come quickly but when successful can be very rewarding!

My advice to you would be part of a team. Many people turning to the internet in search of riches generally don’t have help and support from the people around them. Friends and family may even think your crazy to want to get involved in one of the perceived online scams. Being part of a team gives you that help and support you might not be getting anywhere else, if you’re friends and family aren’t interested in your personal venture to try and find a better life then get talking to people online that are interested. Share ideas, get that support in the early days when you’re learning by trial and error and most importantly never give up! So many people that give up don’t realise how close they were to success.

As for if any of the systems being sold online are scams? No doubt there will be, be careful and do your due diligence but in the main when you learn the techniques to market successfully online you can take any of these systems and make a fortune with them. Learn and perfect one and then repeat over and over again creating residual incomes for life.

You are no different to top earners online. If you want this you can have it. Many of the worlds richest internet marketers are school drop outs, you don’t need any qualifications just the right mindset and some hard work! Take the bull by the horns today and see where you are this time next year it could be a very different place than today!

Steve Males, building a successful team of internet marketers in a top online business.