The internet has created enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs, from opening an online store, to offering any number of services, to all manner of freelancing, and dozens of other potentially lucrative ventures.
With all these low-barrier-to-entry opportunities, thousands upon thousands of ‘wantrepreneurs’ have launched themselves online.
With so many people putting in so much time, effort, and resources into making money online, you’d think there would be a lot more successes.
After all, the business of making money online has matured quite a bit: there’s a wide array of business models to pursue, with easily learned strategies, and proven, effective tactics.
And yet the reality is, the vast majority of those looking to make money online fail.
Which begs the question: Why aren’t more aspiring online entrepreneurs successful, or more successful?
As someone with nearly two decades in the trenches, and regular exposure & interaction with hundreds of internet entrepreneurs, I’ve seen it all. But while I can still be surprised, as I consider the question, the phrase “nothing new under the sun” comes to mind.
In other words, I see entrepreneurs making the same mistakes today as I did when I began trying to make money online. It seems for every successful effort, there are 100 – or more! – entrepreneurs, new & old, failing to achieve their objectives.
With so many options, markets, and approaches – think mobile marketing, ecommerce, social media – the particulars of these ‘failures’ have multiplied. But when you get right down to it, these ‘wantrepreneurs’ are really getting hung up by falling into the same traps as their ‘old school’ compatriots.
In an effort to distill these common pitfalls down to a digestible list, I’ve compiled what I call “The Seven Deadly Sins of Online Entrepreneurs”.
And it’s right in line with the well-known “Pareto principle” that says that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes, though it probably tips more towards 95-5 in online business: 95% of the reasons for failure can be boiled down to the same 5% of causes.
The Seven Deadly Sins of Online Entrepreneurs
#1: Inaction.
It shouldn’t need to be said, but I’ll say it anyway: nothing happens if nothing happens. Success doesn’t happen through osmosis – or wishful thinking.
Whatever the circumstance (and it’s worth pointing out that quitting too soon, before efforts have had sufficient time bear fruit, is just as deadly as not starting in the first place), or the reason (poor prioritization, feeling overwhelmed, fear of failure, feeling intimidated with the task(s) at hand), if days & weeks go by without some significant forward motion, then you’re dead in the water. If this is you, finding a way to overcome inaction is Job #1.
#2: Lack of focus.
Most commonly, I see this in the guise of “Next Shiny Object” or “the grass is always greener on the other side” syndrome – looking for or becoming distracted by a seemingly-better market, idea, strategy, or tool.
While there may legitimately be ‘better things’ out there than whatever it is you’re doing or using, if you find yourself hopping from one to the next on a regular basis, then you need to get yourself a set of blinders. Otherwise, at best, the distraction will insure a mediocre outcome with whatever you’re doing. And “mediocre” today equates to “unsuccessful’.
#3 Procrastination.
I’ll write this one up later…
#4: Wrong Market.
Choosing the wrong niche is one of the more common “sins”. For some, it’s picking a market that simply won’t work: not enough interest or revenue to be had, too competitive, or it requires a degree of familiarity or expertise that you don’t have. For others, it’s a mis-match between the chosen market and the business model used, such as trying to build an online store in a market that doesn’t buy much.
#5: Poor Implementation.
If you’re setting up your own online store, does it look as polished & professional as others in the market?
Unless you are a graphic artist, web developer, and excellent copywriter, trying to do these things yourself will virtually insure a less-than-successful implementation.
#6: “Short-Term-ism”.
Ok, I made that term up – in case it wasn’t apparent. What I’m referring to is the all-too-common “sin” of trading longevity & sustainability for a short-term payout.
To illustrate with an all-too-common scenario: the affiliate marketers who don’t build a list. Of rather, they don’t build their own list (you can be sure the vendor who’s products you’re promoting is very happy to have you build his list). Too much time or effort to do? The reality is, unless you’re getting very large commissions, and stellar conversions, you’re leaving money on the table, and leaving yourself with nothing to show beyond an initial payout. Another recipe for ‘long term unsuccess’.
#7: Doing it wrong.
I ran a private internet marketing forum and a separate live training membership for marketers interested in becoming successful. We had over 3,200 members. If they knew what to do, and were doing it right, they wouldn’t need me to teach them how to become successful (in fairness, we did have a lot of successful people on the forum, and over 1,200 posts on our “Success Stories” board to prove it).
Far too often we see online entrepreneurs applying their best efforts to a strategy or tactic that won’t work, or not implementing a particular strategy or tactic properly. Even if everything else on this list is addressed, this “sin” can – and usually does – result in frustration, disappointment, and ultimately in failure.
The bottom line is this: an online business must be treated like a ‘real’ business. This means we have to be prepared to put in the necessary time and effort to learn what to do, how to do it correctly, to apply ourselves and what we learn, to continually evaluate our efforts, and continually improve.
What To Do…?
If you’re anything like me – or virtually every other online entrepreneur – you’re guilty of one or more of these ‘Seven Deadly Sins’.
So… what do you do about it?
Part of the answer is inherent in the question of ‘what to DO about it’: you DO it.
As I like to say, you have to do the do, to get the get. In other words, nothing else matters if you aren’t taking action. Doing something is better than doing nothing: at least you’ll have a chance of succeeding. If you do nothing, you’re guaranteed to get nothing.
Beyond simply taking action, many of these ailments can be cured by copying - finding something that already works, and duplicating it – or outsourcing those things to someone who can do them for you for a fee.
If I had to summarize the ‘cure’, the lessons I’ve learned over the years myself, and from working with hundreds of other aspiring entrepreneurs, it would be this:
1. Don’t stop ‘doing’ – inaction and inertia are deadly.
2. Whether it’s an entire new effort, or fixing / building on what you already have, find out what’s working and copy it.
3. Never stop improving – if you’re not sure how, look it up and learn.
4. Take the ‘long view’ – be the turtle, not the hare.
Though It’s easier to fail than it is to succeed, it’s also almost certainly easier to succeed than you think!
Michael Ullman is a veteran 15+ year online marketer, best-selling internet marketing author, speaker, consultant, and developer of Info Biz Academy.