Hey Isyaias,
It's Michael Rasmussen here with an email
I REALLY wish someone had sent me years ago,
back when I was just getting started in
Internet marketing.
You see, back then I didn't know anything.
I felt overwhelmed all the time. I spent
MANY nights discouraged and frustrated. And
yes, I made all of the "newbie" mistakes
you can imagine.
While I wouldn't say I've arrived, or I
have nothing left to learn (not by a long
shot, believe me), I HAVE learned some
valuable lessons about mistakes to avoid.
In this email, I'm going to give you what
I think are the top seven mistakes new
Internet marketers make.
When I was making these mistakes, I
struggled. Now that I've put them behind
me, things are going great. Here's
what I mean:
* My business is humming along just fine,
even with the recession.
* I've worked with most of the top Internet
marketers on various projects. Gosh, I have
almost all of their phone numbers on my
cell phone!
* My business has DOUBLED every year for
the past three years running.
* July has been amazing, one of my BEST
months ever!
But NONE of that would be possible if I kept
on making the mistakes I'm going to tell you
about.
So let me tell you what those are, and how
to avoid them.
------------------------
Mistake #1: Poor Planning
------------------------
I could just as easily say NO planning,
because most new marketers don't do any
at all.
Without a plan, they get distracted by just
about every "new" thing that comes along.
They jump into "hot" markets and niches
without doing any research. When they get
crushed, they're shocked and angry. I was
guilty of that, and found out I was in a
bunch of niches where people only wanted
to learn and not buy.
Let me tell you, as the old saying goes,
if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
The simple way to avoid this problem is
to...PLAN!
You don't need the world's best plan. You
just need a reasonable one YOU can execute.
My plan isn't yours, and yours isn't mine.
Here's what I recommend doing:
1) Pick a market you want to target.
Research it. Use Google until you're sick of
it. Find a market full of people who are
BUYING right now.
2) Choose a business model you'll use to
target them. You can start with affiliate
marketing, or create a membership site, or
create a simple product you'll sell with a
Minisite, or something else. There's no one
right or wrong answer. Just pick ONE.
3) Create a single, simple, relatively
low-cost offer to target your market.
Doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to
be real.
4) Focus on that ONE product in that ONE
market until you turn a profit, or determine
with confidence that you can't make a profit
there.
That's it.
You don't need to spend big bucks on every
huge launch that comes along so you can get
the "missing link." You just need to stick
to a simple plan that will get you results.
Then you can grow from there.
Remember, it's better to have fewer sites
that are VERY profitable, than to have a
bunch of sites that make nothing. Planning
and doing helps you get there.
------------------------
Mistake #2: Wasting Time
------------------------
Closely related to that first mistake is
wasting time.
Internet marketing is FULL of time wasters.
If you don't have a plan, you'll find
yourself wasting lots of time.
Most new marketers are very active, but
they're NOT taking the action they need
to take.
They buy domains, make lots of sites, grab
graphics and PLR offers...and they don't
sell anything.
I did all of that myself, and the only way I
ever succeeded was to STOP. You need to
start selling something, monitor the
results, learn and get better at generating
profits.
And here's something lots of people do
(including me, back in the day) that sounds
good, but really isn't...learning.
You'll always learn. I learn about my
business every single day. But if you get
stuck in the learning rut, you'll find
yourself taking (and buying) course after
course with NOTHING to show for it.
One of the ways people think they're
learning is by spending hours in marketing
forums. Forums aren't bad, but does spending
time there fit your plan? If not, why are
you there?
You have to be confident that you're not
"missing" something when you're not
there...because you're following YOUR plan.
I suggest that you block out some time every
day to spend on your business. Don't do
anything in that time that isn't
specifically planned for, and helping you
take REAL action toward generating the
profits you want to generate. That will keep
you focused.
------------------------
Mistake #3: Spending With No Return
------------------------
This is a big one.
I can remember years ago spending massive
amounts of money on pay per click (PPC)
advertising. And I spent a ton on software
tools, too.
Look, those things can be helpful, but they
also can be a money pit. I've wasted a ton
of cash, and I bet you have as well.
You should adopt a simple rule for
yourself...
Anything you spend should be planned
(there's that word again), and you should
only spend if your likelihood of making a
good return is going up.
For example, if you throw some money at PPC
ads, and you get poor results, that's not
necessarily bad. It's only bad if you did it
just hoping it would go well. No, you should
have planned your traffic experiment, and
put limits on how much you would spend.
If you do the experiment and you learned
something that you think will get better
results, you can spend some more to find
out. But if you don't have a plan for it, do
NOT spend any more.
Same goes for software and other tools. Ask
yourself if you really NEED it. If you're
just buying it because you hope it'll make
the light bulb go on, keep your money in
your pocket.
Here's a good way to keep yourself on the
right path...
If you haven't turned a profit yet with your
latest marketing exercise, refuse to spend
any cash on anything else until you DO turn
a profit.
------------------------
Mistake #4: Not Building A List
------------------------
I often wish I could turn back time to when
I was just getting started and correct what
might be the biggest mistake I ever made --
not building a list.
My affiliate marketing efforts were actually
paying off, but I wasn't capturing the email
addresses of my visitors. That meant I was
getting cash from them once, and then I had
to do the hard work of getting a new
visitor! Not smart.
Remember, a list is what will make you
successful. It gives you opportunities to
sell, a group of people to send test offers
to so you can learn what converts, and more.
Without a list, you're really hurting
yourself.
Fortunately, this is easy to fix by
following a simple guideline...
NEVER put up a website that doesn't have a
way for something to give you an email
address. In fact, I suggest that you ALWAYS
directly ask for one, or even force somebody
to give you one if he wants your offer.
This is easier to do than you might think.
Let's say you're selling a product, like an
ebook. Simply create a free offer (maybe a
very short report on the ebook's topic) and
tell people you'll give it to them at no
cost if they'll just give you an email
address to send it to.
You can put that invitation prominently on
the sales page for your product, or even on
a squeeze page in front of your sales page.
That will build your list, which will build
your business over time.
And one more thing...use a third-party
autoresponder. Never host your own scripts
on your own web server.
You can often get autoresponder scripts for
very low cost, and you might think you're
saving a ton over signing up for a service
that charges you a mothly fee. But you're
not. I wasted SO much time struggling with
script issues, getting poor delivery rates,
and being blacklisted by ISPs. It's
definitely NOT worth it.
A third-party service might seem to cost
more, but it's actually a bargain when you
consider the advantages it gives you. It
also helps you focus on doing what you need
to be doing, not struggling with technology.
------------------------
Mistake #5: Chasing Bad Traffic
------------------------
Not all traffic is good. I had to learn that
lesson the hard way.
I won't beat this point to death, but let me
say if you're spending time on safe lists
and traffic exchanges, DON'T. Those things
are a waste of time and money. They simply
don't work.
Good traffic is high-quality, targeted
likely buyers. Bad traffic is everything
else.
Safe lists, traffic exchanges, and other
gimmicks can build a list quickly, but the
list won't do anything. You'll end up with a
few thousand subscribers (at most) who sit
there and never buy because they are trying
to sell to YOU.
What you should be doing instead is going
after targeted visitors from reliable
traffic sources like this:
* Keyword targeted articles on popular
article directory sites
* IM-friendly social networking sites that
can help you build a loyal following (like
Twitter and Facebook)
* Other Web 2.0 sites that can give you
great free traffic from search engines (like
Squidoo)
* SMART PPC advertising, where you do great
research first, and then split test your ads
and offers until you know what works
* Relationships that can bring you "warm"
traffic that's eager to buy what you sell
(more on this one in a minute)
When I was just starting, I wasted literally
years on bad traffic. Now I spend ALL of my
time on joint venture partnerships, solid
article marketing, well researched PPC ads,
and a few other techniques that reliably
bring me great traffic.
That's what you should do.
------------------------
Mistake #6: Neglecting Relationships
------------------------
Relationships are the backbone of my
business. I wouldn't be where I am today
without them.
In the beginning, I stuck to myself and
didn't do as much networking as I should
have done. You know, I'm still very private
about my business. :)
But I learned that I needed to be a lot more
open to establish relationships with people.
Now I talk on the phone, chat, and regularly
keep in touch with many of the top gurus.
Some have become VERY close friends.
This is what Stephen Covey talks about as
the balance between Production and
Production Capacity.
Working heads-down on your business is good
sometimes. That's production.
But relationships are where the big profits
are, and where the big opportunities are.
That's future production capacity, and it's
why I'm where I am today.
I mentioned before that my business has
doubled every year for the past three years.
Relationships did that.
So go out and meet people! When you're in
forums (because you PLANNED to be), get to
know fellow marketers. Attend live events.
Offer to work with folks. That's how your
business will succeed.
------------------------
Mistake #7: Not Seeing Things Through
------------------------
People quit too soon. Success takes
perseverance.
When I first started, I felt like quitting
almost every day. But I didn't. Now I can
look back on it and think how crazy it would
have been for me to give up.
You're probably not all the way to success
yet, so you can't relate to what it feels
like. That doesn't matter.
Here's what you need to do...
Refuse to quit, no matter what, until you
make your first sale on the Internet without
spending yourself into debt.
If you do the other things I've told you
about in this email, you should be able to
do it.
Only you can decide not to quit.
------------------------
Wrapping Up
------------------------
Those are the top seven mistakes I see new
Internet marketers making every day.
I've given you some advice about how to
avoid each of those mistakes. And now you
have to TAKE my advice and plan how you'll
avoid these mistakes in your own business
from now on.
I hope this information helps you as much as
I know it would've helped me years ago.
Have a great weekend, Isyaias.
All the best,
Michael Rasmussen
It's Michael Rasmussen here with an email
I REALLY wish someone had sent me years ago,
back when I was just getting started in
Internet marketing.
You see, back then I didn't know anything.
I felt overwhelmed all the time. I spent
MANY nights discouraged and frustrated. And
yes, I made all of the "newbie" mistakes
you can imagine.
While I wouldn't say I've arrived, or I
have nothing left to learn (not by a long
shot, believe me), I HAVE learned some
valuable lessons about mistakes to avoid.
In this email, I'm going to give you what
I think are the top seven mistakes new
Internet marketers make.
When I was making these mistakes, I
struggled. Now that I've put them behind
me, things are going great. Here's
what I mean:
* My business is humming along just fine,
even with the recession.
* I've worked with most of the top Internet
marketers on various projects. Gosh, I have
almost all of their phone numbers on my
cell phone!
* My business has DOUBLED every year for
the past three years running.
* July has been amazing, one of my BEST
months ever!
But NONE of that would be possible if I kept
on making the mistakes I'm going to tell you
about.
So let me tell you what those are, and how
to avoid them.
------------------------
Mistake #1: Poor Planning
------------------------
I could just as easily say NO planning,
because most new marketers don't do any
at all.
Without a plan, they get distracted by just
about every "new" thing that comes along.
They jump into "hot" markets and niches
without doing any research. When they get
crushed, they're shocked and angry. I was
guilty of that, and found out I was in a
bunch of niches where people only wanted
to learn and not buy.
Let me tell you, as the old saying goes,
if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
The simple way to avoid this problem is
to...PLAN!
You don't need the world's best plan. You
just need a reasonable one YOU can execute.
My plan isn't yours, and yours isn't mine.
Here's what I recommend doing:
1) Pick a market you want to target.
Research it. Use Google until you're sick of
it. Find a market full of people who are
BUYING right now.
2) Choose a business model you'll use to
target them. You can start with affiliate
marketing, or create a membership site, or
create a simple product you'll sell with a
Minisite, or something else. There's no one
right or wrong answer. Just pick ONE.
3) Create a single, simple, relatively
low-cost offer to target your market.
Doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to
be real.
4) Focus on that ONE product in that ONE
market until you turn a profit, or determine
with confidence that you can't make a profit
there.
That's it.
You don't need to spend big bucks on every
huge launch that comes along so you can get
the "missing link." You just need to stick
to a simple plan that will get you results.
Then you can grow from there.
Remember, it's better to have fewer sites
that are VERY profitable, than to have a
bunch of sites that make nothing. Planning
and doing helps you get there.
------------------------
Mistake #2: Wasting Time
------------------------
Closely related to that first mistake is
wasting time.
Internet marketing is FULL of time wasters.
If you don't have a plan, you'll find
yourself wasting lots of time.
Most new marketers are very active, but
they're NOT taking the action they need
to take.
They buy domains, make lots of sites, grab
graphics and PLR offers...and they don't
sell anything.
I did all of that myself, and the only way I
ever succeeded was to STOP. You need to
start selling something, monitor the
results, learn and get better at generating
profits.
And here's something lots of people do
(including me, back in the day) that sounds
good, but really isn't...learning.
You'll always learn. I learn about my
business every single day. But if you get
stuck in the learning rut, you'll find
yourself taking (and buying) course after
course with NOTHING to show for it.
One of the ways people think they're
learning is by spending hours in marketing
forums. Forums aren't bad, but does spending
time there fit your plan? If not, why are
you there?
You have to be confident that you're not
"missing" something when you're not
there...because you're following YOUR plan.
I suggest that you block out some time every
day to spend on your business. Don't do
anything in that time that isn't
specifically planned for, and helping you
take REAL action toward generating the
profits you want to generate. That will keep
you focused.
------------------------
Mistake #3: Spending With No Return
------------------------
This is a big one.
I can remember years ago spending massive
amounts of money on pay per click (PPC)
advertising. And I spent a ton on software
tools, too.
Look, those things can be helpful, but they
also can be a money pit. I've wasted a ton
of cash, and I bet you have as well.
You should adopt a simple rule for
yourself...
Anything you spend should be planned
(there's that word again), and you should
only spend if your likelihood of making a
good return is going up.
For example, if you throw some money at PPC
ads, and you get poor results, that's not
necessarily bad. It's only bad if you did it
just hoping it would go well. No, you should
have planned your traffic experiment, and
put limits on how much you would spend.
If you do the experiment and you learned
something that you think will get better
results, you can spend some more to find
out. But if you don't have a plan for it, do
NOT spend any more.
Same goes for software and other tools. Ask
yourself if you really NEED it. If you're
just buying it because you hope it'll make
the light bulb go on, keep your money in
your pocket.
Here's a good way to keep yourself on the
right path...
If you haven't turned a profit yet with your
latest marketing exercise, refuse to spend
any cash on anything else until you DO turn
a profit.
------------------------
Mistake #4: Not Building A List
------------------------
I often wish I could turn back time to when
I was just getting started and correct what
might be the biggest mistake I ever made --
not building a list.
My affiliate marketing efforts were actually
paying off, but I wasn't capturing the email
addresses of my visitors. That meant I was
getting cash from them once, and then I had
to do the hard work of getting a new
visitor! Not smart.
Remember, a list is what will make you
successful. It gives you opportunities to
sell, a group of people to send test offers
to so you can learn what converts, and more.
Without a list, you're really hurting
yourself.
Fortunately, this is easy to fix by
following a simple guideline...
NEVER put up a website that doesn't have a
way for something to give you an email
address. In fact, I suggest that you ALWAYS
directly ask for one, or even force somebody
to give you one if he wants your offer.
This is easier to do than you might think.
Let's say you're selling a product, like an
ebook. Simply create a free offer (maybe a
very short report on the ebook's topic) and
tell people you'll give it to them at no
cost if they'll just give you an email
address to send it to.
You can put that invitation prominently on
the sales page for your product, or even on
a squeeze page in front of your sales page.
That will build your list, which will build
your business over time.
And one more thing...use a third-party
autoresponder. Never host your own scripts
on your own web server.
You can often get autoresponder scripts for
very low cost, and you might think you're
saving a ton over signing up for a service
that charges you a mothly fee. But you're
not. I wasted SO much time struggling with
script issues, getting poor delivery rates,
and being blacklisted by ISPs. It's
definitely NOT worth it.
A third-party service might seem to cost
more, but it's actually a bargain when you
consider the advantages it gives you. It
also helps you focus on doing what you need
to be doing, not struggling with technology.
------------------------
Mistake #5: Chasing Bad Traffic
------------------------
Not all traffic is good. I had to learn that
lesson the hard way.
I won't beat this point to death, but let me
say if you're spending time on safe lists
and traffic exchanges, DON'T. Those things
are a waste of time and money. They simply
don't work.
Good traffic is high-quality, targeted
likely buyers. Bad traffic is everything
else.
Safe lists, traffic exchanges, and other
gimmicks can build a list quickly, but the
list won't do anything. You'll end up with a
few thousand subscribers (at most) who sit
there and never buy because they are trying
to sell to YOU.
What you should be doing instead is going
after targeted visitors from reliable
traffic sources like this:
* Keyword targeted articles on popular
article directory sites
* IM-friendly social networking sites that
can help you build a loyal following (like
Twitter and Facebook)
* Other Web 2.0 sites that can give you
great free traffic from search engines (like
Squidoo)
* SMART PPC advertising, where you do great
research first, and then split test your ads
and offers until you know what works
* Relationships that can bring you "warm"
traffic that's eager to buy what you sell
(more on this one in a minute)
When I was just starting, I wasted literally
years on bad traffic. Now I spend ALL of my
time on joint venture partnerships, solid
article marketing, well researched PPC ads,
and a few other techniques that reliably
bring me great traffic.
That's what you should do.
------------------------
Mistake #6: Neglecting Relationships
------------------------
Relationships are the backbone of my
business. I wouldn't be where I am today
without them.
In the beginning, I stuck to myself and
didn't do as much networking as I should
have done. You know, I'm still very private
about my business. :)
But I learned that I needed to be a lot more
open to establish relationships with people.
Now I talk on the phone, chat, and regularly
keep in touch with many of the top gurus.
Some have become VERY close friends.
This is what Stephen Covey talks about as
the balance between Production and
Production Capacity.
Working heads-down on your business is good
sometimes. That's production.
But relationships are where the big profits
are, and where the big opportunities are.
That's future production capacity, and it's
why I'm where I am today.
I mentioned before that my business has
doubled every year for the past three years.
Relationships did that.
So go out and meet people! When you're in
forums (because you PLANNED to be), get to
know fellow marketers. Attend live events.
Offer to work with folks. That's how your
business will succeed.
------------------------
Mistake #7: Not Seeing Things Through
------------------------
People quit too soon. Success takes
perseverance.
When I first started, I felt like quitting
almost every day. But I didn't. Now I can
look back on it and think how crazy it would
have been for me to give up.
You're probably not all the way to success
yet, so you can't relate to what it feels
like. That doesn't matter.
Here's what you need to do...
Refuse to quit, no matter what, until you
make your first sale on the Internet without
spending yourself into debt.
If you do the other things I've told you
about in this email, you should be able to
do it.
Only you can decide not to quit.
------------------------
Wrapping Up
------------------------
Those are the top seven mistakes I see new
Internet marketers making every day.
I've given you some advice about how to
avoid each of those mistakes. And now you
have to TAKE my advice and plan how you'll
avoid these mistakes in your own business
from now on.
I hope this information helps you as much as
I know it would've helped me years ago.
Have a great weekend, Isyaias.
All the best,
Michael Rasmussen
