Why do so Many People Fail Online?

So what is the biggest stumbling block for internet marketers, both new and old?  It’s a question that many people ask, and it seems there are many answers.  In my honest opinion few are right!

The answers I have heard include:

Shinny Object Syndrome – this is where people jump from one idea to another believing that the next launch, the next ebook, the next software product is “the one” that will make them rich

Not having a list – certainly this is a stumbling block, as we all know “the money is in the list.” However even without a list you can potentially make money

Lack of traffic – oh yeah this one is said a lot.  You see people say “but if I had more traffic I would make (more) money.” But again that is not always true, as even if you had 200 people a day visiting your site if they are not targeted or not buyers you won’t make money

“They” have all the luck – many people blame others thinking that they have more luck, they have special skills, they were born to the right family etc, etc, however again all of this is poppycock!

Lack of knowledge – kind of like the above. People will blame the fact that they don’t know everything thus they can’t possibly launch a product or service

My product is not yet perfect – oh the “don’t release it till it’s perfect” answer.  Let me tell you there is no such thing as perfection!  Since this is your product you will always see fault with it, you will always want to improve it.  The important thing is that you launch the product when it is good enough for the market. I don’t mean you should produce half finished products, I mean you need to know when a product is ready, and not always strive for perfection

You see when a person wants to find an excuse for not putting something out there they will. However, sometimes people don’t even realise that they are undertaking self sabotage.

But let me in on what I believe is the big secret to success!

Planning and Taking Action Fast!

They say money likes speed.  The quicker you are the more you make.  But you know the problem a lot of people have, in my opinion, is they don’t plan.  They see an internet business as being different from any other business out there! For some reason many people believe you can just start a business like that, super quick, no planning involved.  And then they wonder why they don’t make money

With an offline business before you open your doors, you are planning all the way.  Planning your premises, presentation of your goods, what you will sell, how you will make money out of each customer … the list goes on.

When it comes to the online world it seems most people forget about this. They don’t plan.  And let me in on a secret – I have been guilty of this too.

Here’s what has happened to me:

  • Decided to launch a product
  • Created the product
  • Created the sales page
  • Made a lot of sales

Then suddenly thought, shoot I never:

  • created an upsell
  • darn I forgot collect email addresses and put them on my autoresponder
  • oh man I never put any ads on a download page

Honestly I did not have a process in place.  And it is not just me. I have seen other people who  have had great launches end up being what one one might call “one hit wonders.” They have one success and then disappear.  Why? No succession planning.

It’s down to the planning

The truth is that some people create a product simply for a quick fix, to get them out of a hole they are in.  Imagine a shop opening up for a week, then once the initial stock was sold doing nothing as they just needed to make some quick money.

People would soon think how odd it was, that they are not following up with customers, restocking the shelves etc.  But this is what so many people online do.  They create a product, sell it then they kind of disappear because they have made the 3k that they needed to cover the rent or other expenses.

Those who succeed are those who plan, who take the time to think like a chess player, they think 3 or 4 products ahead. They have all of the pieces of their game lined up.

Look at the big players out there, or even the medium players.  They have a well oiled process when they sell a product. Watch the next launch or promotion one of the big dogs do and learn from it.

Getting back to basics

Ok so by now you know you need to plan. However, there is planning and there is planning.  This is something I found out the hard way.  You need to create a plan and stick to it. Don’t use the excuse of not having time, as one hour a day used wisely is better than 7 hours a day wasted browsing Facebook!

Over the years I have refined my plan and finally decided that I was going to share it with others in the form of my FastActionPlanner series.  These planners take you through the first 4 important stages of your document:

  • Niche Research Planning
  • Product Name Planning
  • Product Creation Planning
  • Sales Page Planning

Each planner prompts you to take action and guides you each step of the way. However more than that, once you have your plan and launch your product you then have a blue print to do it all over again.  But this time you will able to do it quicker!

If you’re serious about building an online business I recommend you check out Fast Action Planner.

This is a guest post written by Richard Butler. If you’d like to be considered for a guest post please contact me.

Why Moving From eBay to Etsy Was The Best Thing I Ever Did

My name is Stuart Turnbull and today I’d like to share my story of how and why I switched my eBay business to Etsy.

I started selling on eBay way back in 2004 and found it to be an exciting and lucrative income stream. I loved connecting with buyers from around the world and watching my auctions fly to unbelievable prices as the bidders fought over my items!

I’m sure you remember how much fun it was selling on eBay back then before they decided they needed to move towards the Amazon business model and in doing so they alienated small sellers like you and me.

A gradual decline in my sales followed as eBay became dominated by the big retailers.

Never ending rule changes and fee increases plus the introduction of the Cassini search engine which tended to hide small seller’s listings led to my decision to look for an alternative platform to sell my items. (BTW I sell vintage book prints – you can read more about my business here).

At the back end of 2013 I decided to open a shop on Etsy and I began by listing my items simultaneously on eBay and on Etsy.

The results of this experiment shocked me – my new Etsy listings began to sell almost immediately and soon outpaced my eBay sales by 10 to 1 – my decision was a simple one – I closed down my eBay business and moved it lock, stock and barrel to Etsy!

You may have considered Etsy yourself but been put off thinking the platform is exclusively for handmade goods – this is absolutely NOT the case.

Etsy is indeed the world leading platform for handmade but it is also a vibrant and rapidly growing marketplace for vintage (anything 20+ years old) and craft supplies (anything that can be used to create handmade items).

In fact, Etsy has a buzzing marketplace for digital products – they even host your digital products free of charge! – do you remember the good old days on eBay before they banned digital goods?

Etsy is so much SIMPLER than eBay – with no selling restrictions on new sellers and just one site providing world-wide exposure. There is just one set of selling fees regardless of what you sell and these fees work out 80% CHEAPER than eBay’s!!

Today I make multiple daily sales and the great buyer/seller interaction makes it feel like eBay did a decade ago!

If you have yet to try Etsy for yourself (or you have opened your Etsy shop with limited success) I am more than happy to hold your hand and teach you the ropes – I have learned lots of tricks and techniques for growing a successful Etsy business over the last few years and I’d love to share them all with you – CLICK HERE to find out how you too can put the fun AND profit back into your online sales – and as a special ‘THANK YOU!’ for reading this post I have created a limited time coupon code to give you HALF OFF my course!

Please use the code – ‘halfprice’ at checkout.

Here’s to a successful online future for us all!

Stuart Turnbull

This is a guest post written by Stuart Turnbull. If you’d like to be considered for a guest post contact me.