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Gold As a Newbie, What Stops You From Getting Started

TJ, you ever do any motivational speaking? If not, you should. Or at least could.

Oh, I have been told many times that I should be in that industry. Many many times. I have been in several different industries that put me in a position to speak to decision makers and corporate groups. I think my up-bringing had something to do with this as well.
 
As for me i pick "2. xyzabc - Feels a lack of information, confusion about where to start, has fear of loss, thinks the business has too much risk, doesn't like the learning curve" as the biggest obstacle for newbie especially newbies to paid traffic methods.
if one has a certain amount of budget he might have thoughts of what if this little investment dries off and its only what i have? Why do they say money will be lost 99% sure when a campaign is begun and this is where u gather info....
Things like this disturb ..... but i believe when u overcome these u make it :ninja:
 
if one has a certain amount of budget he might have thoughts of what if this little investment dries off and its only what i have? Why do they say money will be lost 99% sure when a campaign is begun and this is where u gather info....
Things like this disturb ..... but i believe when u overcome these u make it :ninja:
This was also one of the reason for me as well that's why I got started with PPV as I can get really cheap traffic to test and campaigns and scale from there. I have tried many paid traffic platforms facebook ads, safe swaps and many more but they aren't cheap so as they are quite expensive and this fears newbies that budget will dry up soon and I will left with only data, and wth u gonna do with that data? lol :p when you dont have any money to scale it!
You are right rahman!
 
500days: This is a nice thread TJ

You guys are making this a nice thread. I just asked the question. I want all of you to see the patterns in everyone's answers. This way, perhaps, we can help all of you get through these things that seem to get in your way.

my journey online has rather been a long one although I am happy to see the little progress I have been making overtime.
Everyone progresses at their own pace. I didn't get focused and really producing until years after entering the marketing communities. If you are making progress, it's just a matter of commitment of time and money to scale things up. Progress, by the way, means your're taking action and that my friend is the biggest step to take! Congrats!

Well, to answer the question, I have had more obstacles than I had imagined when getting started 2yrs ago.
information overload, silver bullet syndrome, negative talk, and the lack of action taking.
You see, so many can easily identify with this. These are the top interfering challenges everyone faces. You simply must draft a plan that eliminates these issues. It truly is that simple. Being your own boss requires you to take responsibility of your time and effort and doing it with a plan and sticking to your plan.

My greatest challenge now, is the lack of a solid plan that can help me focus on these 2 revenue streams effectively. I am somehow coming up with one for SEO, but I cannot approve of it yet, until I see a couple sites in the first page of Google, One seems to be rising up the ranks slowly.
You see, you do know that it takes planning, you stated above, Your greatest challenge is a solid plan. JUST DO IT! make your plan for every project and create check lists for all that must be done in that plan.

Having come from a Freelance background (Making money setting up servers/Web design), I felt a strong affection for Internet marketing and I have never looked back due to the burning desire to raise the daily income. I have since overcome the info overload bit (I never bother much about the wso's I see left and right), unless it helps me learn a tactic in my areas of interest which is SEO and PPV.
Another great lesson there for others. Do your work during your scheduled work hours and do your research, like looking into other peoples products, during your off work time.

I would like to master as many income stream methods yes, but those 2 are my launchers for now until I see measurable success. Jay Wessman has been so helpful in helping me learn SEO through his Screw95 course and I cant wait to see how my sites turn out in the next 3months or so. I have done sites before I took this course and had projects that either underperformed or just didn't ended up with no traffic at all, so I had to dump them due to poor niche research.
To be honest, I have looked at Jays Screw95 and he is enormously helpful as well. My neighbor purchased his program at my recommendation. He has never marketed before and I told him to give it a try. He loves it. Of course, my phone never stops ringing since I got him on board with this stuff:cool: Keep going with jay. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders and I have no doubt that you will push through the barriers and develop your own formulas for success.

I must indicate my PPV journey is where I have spent quite a bit in collecting data (Not profitable yet), but I am yet to find that campaign that turns tables around.
I just tested another campaign over the valentine period to no success. I am logging all the data in a spreadsheet though
Learning to collect and read data is a top requirement for success in this business. Without it, you cannot achieve what the real money makers are earning. Keep it up brother!

One thing that has been of help too is reducing the time I learn and increasing the action taking time. Nevertheless, I still hope to find an organizational way/Plan I can use to blend my PPV and SEO projects while building an email lists along the way. I believe this will help me focus while doing only the necessary things that can have a positive ROI on my projects
As long as you have separate plans integrated into your scheduling, you can climb the highest mountain in this industry! Great Job my friend!

Thanks Again TJ and Fix Members
Ben
As long as everyone is posting, creating threads, and contributing the info of our journeys, then we all will succeed. Keep the info rolling in this forum Ben.
 
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For me it's time and money - having the time to research a topic/offer properly then the budget to promote it.

Once I get started and earn a bit then I will reinvest and go from there - but it's just getting started that's the issue.
 
You guys are making this a nice thread. I just asked the question. I want all of you to see the patterns in everyone's answers. This way, perhaps, we can help all of you get through these things that seem to get in your way.
.

Wow Wow TJ . Thanks for you detailed response. I will proceed and come up with a documented plan for this stuff. It seems like its easy to lose track as well without a plan.

Thanks a bunch. Will keep you guys posted on how my journey goes.
 
From vellex,
I don't think I can give you a valid reason for being unable to get started, or at least some reason that doesn't sound like an excuse. My brain, eyes, hands, and internet connection are all perfectly functional, so the only obstacles I could face are personal problems.

Well, you see vellex, you diagnosed yourself. Personal issues can easily get in the way of progress. I have this problem sometimes. Recently I have been facing very tough, very difficult personal issues. They have taken much of my time and effected me spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically as well as financially. I am a seasoned businessman, the spiritual (I am not religious), emotional, and psychological portions of my mind are strong. they actually serve me well when I have everything going in the right direction. They actually increase my capacities to succeed at most anything I take on. But their strength is a "double edged blade", any thing that makes you stronger can make you weaker if you don't know (or learn) to channel their negative impacts into a positive direction.

When I was in my teens, I studied and trained in boxing with a guy by the name of Cliff Hart. Cliff had been a Welter Weight Champion in the U.S. Navy during the later years of WW2. He taught me the techniques of focus and determination I needed as a teen. He showed me how to channel the negative energy away from the areas of my life that suffered. I used my boxing to do this. Later, I was able to do this without the need of a physical outlet. It seems to me, you need to find a path to channel personal issues so they don't interrupt your Business PLAN for success.

Sure, I don't have the ability to invest money in paid traffic, but that is exactly why I got started with SEO instead, so at least I have something going on.

If you cannot afford to invest in paid traffic, which typically brings immediate results (good or bad), then use every free traffic method you can get your business into. Just keep in mind that if you are attempting to do many different traffic sources at one time, then you will be lost in a sea of decisions you will run away from. Learn one traffic source at a time, free or not, when you are a beginner at this game. Become an expert at one traffic source as a beginner, it will happen within a few months at most (probably sooner).

The main problem I face is perfectionism, so I am constantly struggling with self-doubt, questioning the quality of my work and skills. But like most other obstacles, it is a characteristic that exists to keep me in the comfort zone. I can use it as an excuse to make choices that appeal to my comfort or I can learn to work around it.

There is no comfort in losing. Believe me when I tell you I have pulled some magnanimous BONER's in my day. I have pissed away huge amounts of money, lost big money in bad investments, etc. When you want to be on the cutting edge, you will occasionally get wounded and sometimes in a big, big way.

As for perfectionism, you cannot ever be perfect, you cannot ever create perfection, and until you learn and accept this you will be lost in a place that you can only leave when you do accept the fact that you have do your best and not expect perfection ever. It never happens, never. Do your best and your best will get better every time you move forward. When I start a project, I get it to the best I can to put it into practice and then I can get feedback on it's progress. The feedback's from efforts you make are the real data collections that tell you where improvements can be made. It's the improvements we make in this game that get us the rolling profits we all seek. Like launching a new campaign. I rarely earn anything significant when I first roll out a campaign because I generally run a campaign full throttle for a week. Then when I study the data, it tells me where the money is to be made and I can adjust my campaign to fit the data set, scale it up, and really start to earn.
 
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Oh, I have been told many times that I should be in that industry. Many many times. I have been in several different industries that put me in a position to speak to decision makers and corporate groups. I think my up-bringing had something to do with this as well.

A talent that has, I'm sure, served you well. It certainly has served us well, thank-you. :)
 
So for me is the confusion, there are too many blogs, forums, etc.
Everybody makes money on this or that. Different opinions.
Also I have so many questions and not always easy to get answers.
I'm also not sure what strategy to follow, what traffic source to pick, What vertical to choose.
I've been choosing offers by the conversion rate I see in my affiliates network which I guess does not always mean that much.

I know "pick one and start with it". I did it with 7search already. I ran some campaigns. 7search is cool because is very cheap, so to learn basics (Set up campaign, track, abtest landing page) is good. Other than that, traffic quality I think is really bad from my experience. They just seem to click on anything.
So right now I'm on reading mode again, I'm considering paying for a forum like STM and start seeing the study cases.

Anyways I also work full-time and my job is quite tiring, but in May I'm planning to do this full-time for 6 months with a $500/month budget to spend only on campaigns and a bit more if I need tools or study material or server, whatever. So I will have a strict plan and a good idea of what to pursue by then. After those 6 months if this does not work, I'll start working on my area again.
But I'm won't give up without a proper fight :)
 
***information overload***

"Information Overload" becomes a hurdle every time.

One of the top 5 of all time for most every marketer. Remember, just as in school, you can't study when at a sporting event! In other words, your scheduled time for working can not include thinking about or investigating other products. When you develop a plan for marketing or a campaign, you must be sure it is scheduled for times after school work is complete. You must do the same thing for research and investigation, you cannot do it during times that are scheduled for your campaign work.

I have downloaded more than 1000 ebooks and video tutorials in last 5 years.. you name I have it, almost almost every industry related to Internet call it Money Black book, Millionaire secret underground HYIPs or outsourcing secrets, Cash machine xyz Bullsh*t blah blah blah I have it all. I know If I had placed my focus on one particular thing before, I could have gone so far. :(

Having loads of study material is great, but I suspect that like everyone else (and I mean pretty much all of us) you were subconsciously thinking that each download was finally the "magic bullet" that would bring you all the money without all the work by just "Pushing the Magic Money Button". You have the materials and haven't put them onto action.

Although I am trying to focus and stick to one thing as now I have realized (so late). And I am very much sure this is the reason why so many people drop the idea of internet business because anywhere they look, its filled with Good info and bad info and they cannot distinguish which one of them is right. Which way to go, Who could guide better. Every person is trying to sell something.

Okay, the easiest way to determine if information is correct is to put it into practice. Now, I believe that most everyone has enough sense to weed out 75% of any bad information, leaving a much smaller amount of bad info to sift through. In the end however, putting information to the test through implementation is the cleanest and most efficient means to determine its validity.

One of the reasons we have forums is to help one another determine what works and what isn't working. Get involved in the forum, this is the quickest means to establishing relationships and these relationships allow us to work through the requirements to succeed.Our forum owner, "K", recently reminded me of something i've known all my life. Cut loose of the losers and stick close to the winners. This is how you become a winner, stay a winner, and win more often. I've known this all my life, and I have strayed from it on occasion. It helps to have friends like "K" remind of this valuable lesson. These forums work! This forum works! Get involved, build relationships, and you will find that bad information doesn't infiltrate your life too often.
 
From generalrahman

Feels a lack of information, confusion about where to start

Okay, so if you do not know where to start, then it is my opinion you have not researched the industry enough. It would be a great idea for you to get a notebook, read through our Wiki, and then read through our threads in the various forums to start developing our interest(s). Make lots of notes along the way about the various forms of businesses available for ou to begin with. You say you feel there is a lack of information, I can't in any way understand how you could feel there is a lack of information anywhere on the "Information Highway" we call the internet. You have not yet developed your interest. I suspect you are attracted to the idea of having an internet business, but you have not sufficiently researched the many types of businesses available to you.

has fear of loss, thinks the business has too much risk

If you are beginning any business with the fear of loss, then you have failed before you get started. All businesses require investment. All of them, no exceptions ever. Investments of time and of money. If you operate from a position of fear and of fear of loss then perhaps being a business owner isn't something you should be doing.

Every business has risk, your responsibility as a business owner is to reduce, or limit, risk. No one in the world can ever eliminate risk completely.

doesn't like the learning curve" as the biggest obstacle for newbie especially newbies to paid traffic methods.

It doesn't matter whether it is a paid traffic method. The key to this statement is that you don't like the learning curve. You see, for most of us, we get excited about all the things we can learn. That is something that we as online entrepreneurs embrace, we never run away from it or complain about it. We love it!

If having to learn is a negative aspect for you in the pursuit of being a business owner, then I would recommend getting a 9 to 5 job, I can't recommend to someone being a business owner when everything they think and do in pursuit of business is based on their fears.

Being an independent business owner, and especially an online business owner, requires us to embrace having to continually learn due to the continual changes in business both online and off line.

if one has a certain amount of budget he might have thoughts of what if this little investment dries off and its only what i have?

Don't ever use your money for living to begin a business. You must save money for business and always keep your business money separate from your personal finances!
 
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The biggest obstacle I'm facing about is tracking. As I know nothing about it, I'm very confused about that thing.

Okay Trinath, I'll address the tracking thing first.

I just looked on YouTube and there are, as follows, an abundance of tracking tutorials:

P202 - 1150 Videos

Bevo - 267 Videos

CPVLab - 240 Videos

In addition, when I searched just this forum I found 20 pages (25 results per page) of tracking questions and responses.

Your statement was "The biggest obstacle I'm facing about is tracking. As I know nothing about it, I'm very confused about that thing." This statement is confusing to me because it states that you are confused about something you know nothing about. If you know nothing about it, IMO, you can't be confused. It means you simply haven't implemented any tracking and begun the learning process. The only way you learn any of this stuff is putting into practice and utilizing the guides and available information to get great at it. This simply means "Taking Action"!

Have you tried using P202, Bevo, or CPVLab? If not, I recommend going through the forum posts, selecting the one you want to learn first, get some campaigns going with your new tracker, and polish your expertise along the way. If you do this, you will no longer be able to say you don't know anything about it.

SECONDLY: Trinath, we have chatted on Skype and I think there is a pattern in your approach to online marketing, much like the tracking, you haven't embraced the learning side of this business. When I say embrace, I mean to hold it in your heart like you would hold a new born baby in your arms. You need to hold these things close, with passion, and with commitment! I know you can do it, I've chatted with you and know you want this to work, but you need to adjust your mindset to embrace all of these avenues of making campaigns and marketing work for you.
 
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For me it's time and money - having the time to research a topic/offer properly then the budget to promote it.

Once I get started and earn a bit then I will reinvest and go from there - but it's just getting started that's the issue.

Well xploit, one must have time and money for starting a business. Once you have these available to you then you can get started.
 
I think that most new affiliates can get easily overwhelmed with all the information and sometimes conflicting information that is available on the internet. I also think that some affiliates have a skewed outlook on what affiliate marketing really is. They see commercials on the television and they buy into a lot of garbage that seems to be out there. Some of these programs will make claims that affiliates will make XXX amount of money in a given amount of time. It is a great way to get people in the door, but it seems pretty counterproductive. Setting right expectations is the best way for affiliates to keep motivated as well as a good outlook on their progress. There is no time table with affiliate marketing, you can go as quick or as slow as you like. I would rather most affiliates take their time and do things correctly, thus building a more solid reputation and business. This is vital to staying viable in the future.
 
I think that most new affiliates can get easily overwhelmed with all the information and sometimes conflicting information that is available on the internet. I also think that some affiliates have a skewed outlook on what affiliate marketing really is. They see commercials on the television and they buy into a lot of garbage that seems to be out there. Some of these programs will make claims that affiliates will make XXX amount of money in a given amount of time. It is a great way to get people in the door, but it seems pretty counterproductive. Setting right expectations is the best way for affiliates to keep motivated as well as a good outlook on their progress. There is no time table with affiliate marketing, you can go as quick or as slow as you like. I would rather most affiliates take their time and do things correctly, thus building a more solid reputation and business. This is vital to staying viable in the future.

Well said operationoffers, learn at one's own pace, work with integrity, build a solid business. This works!
 
From asknopt

So for me is the confusion, there are too many blogs, forums, etc.

Well , I get your point, but I can't say that it's well said for the following reasons. First of all, I don't agree that there are too many blogs and forums. What this tells me is you are jumping from one place to another in hope of finding something that may be a magic bullet. You are a "lurker" if you are doing this. My advice is to settle into a couple of good forums with people you like and begin building relationships with which you can collaborate towards individual successes.

This will end confusion!

Everybody makes money on this or that. Different opinions.

Peoples opinions are worthless in this business for the most part. It's proven methods, tactics, and strategies that lead the way to success. Once you can master some of the known successful maps to earning, your creative side will automatically jump in and start giving you original masterpieces.

Also I have so many questions and not always easy to get answers.

Look, so many in this business want everything immediately. This is an unrealistic expectation. When a successful business person needs to solve an issue, or implement a new campaign, start up a new company, etc., then they research by reading, contacting contemporaries, and sometimes hiring an individual to get the answers. I think in this day we have more resources than ever before in time and once you develop a system, or procedure, for researching then all the answers you require will bow to your feet. It's all about communication, read what people write, contact people in the know, ask questions in your forums, collaborate with people in the industry. You must build relationships with people in the industry you intend to establish yourself in.

I'm also not sure what strategy to follow, what traffic source to pick, What vertical to choose.

If you are brand new to this, then first be certain to read our Wiki. Then read through many threads in the various forums here on the FIX to get a stronger and more defined idea about what you may want to start with. Once you pick out ONE THING TO BEGIN, then you must set down and outline a plan, create checklists for each element of the plan, and then take action and follow your plan until it is complete. Do not give up on your plan. You must get through your plan, if you give up before you have exhausted every opportunity to make it work, then you can't say you tried everything to make it work.

I've been choosing offers by the conversion rate I see in my affiliates network which I guess does not always mean that much.

This is a common way to pick offers, but not always the best way. Many of us develop a formula to investigate the products market, user demographics to decide where to market it, etc. If everything adds up then we give it a shot.

Anyways I also work full-time and my job is quite tiring, but in May I'm planning to do this full-time for 6 months with a $500/month budget to spend only on campaigns and a bit more if I need tools or study material or server, whatever. So I will have a strict plan and a good idea of what to pursue by then.
But I'm won't give up without a proper fight

Making a plan is essential, you can't get to where you want to be without it. One thing, don't think of it as a fight, but rather, AN ADVENTURE!
 
Hi all, instead of talking just about obstacles, I would like to share my little experience, what I have learned so far.

Previously my obstacles were, not just lack of information, but LOTS of misinformation. I have been into online business stuff fora few years now, mainly eCommerce.. knew about CPA but didn't dare to jump into it because
1) Don't know where to start
2) Even if I found some (Very Popular) forums and blogs, their info sometimes contradict each other or are incomplete. Some of them sell ebooks or even give it to you free, but really those info are either outdated or something somewhere, some information is purposely left out. In short, USELESS.

3) Everybody seems to be talking about the big money involved, big risk big reward.Some guru comes along tell you how you can earn $3k, 10k a month, or even in a day. Takes you 8-9months to master it. If you are good, even 3months or even 1 month! Then they charge you $500, $1k, even $4k for coaching. But they didn't tell you the terms and condition applied. AND by the way, those coaching only provides similar information that you can get from this forum.

4) Then when you read all the ebooks, articles, forums in the world.. you realize you have a problem. You don't know where to start. The information overloads overwhelms you.


I went through all these phrase, and almost felt depress. Then the turning point came when I saw a video of one of the 'guru'. He mentioned something about you must get started somewhere, you don't have to know everything to start. When you take action, you will start to learn.
TAKE MASSIVE ACTION FOR MASSIVE RESULTS.
Even though I don't think he will teach any 'secret' to success (my suspicion was confirmed by an attendee), that video makes so much sense to me. That's where I made a decision to commit.

"Fortune Favors the Brave"
This phrase makes so much sense to me now. Somehow, The moment I decide to just jump into this, I quickly start to find useful resources. I found this forum, the Wiki info is sooo useful, previously all the information I know is in bits and pieces. Now I have a much clearer understanding.

Then I found TJ, he is amazingly helpful. The person whom I bought an ebook from don't even reply my message. TJ, he has nothing to profit from me, yet he is so patient to answer my answers out of his busy schedule. Most importantly, he corrected my thinking, focus on doing it right, enjoying the process than how much you will make. When you do it right, $$ will follow.
Then through TJ, I knew another newbie who is as committed, we clicked so well that we start doing analysis and case study together. We plan and share useful information with each other. To be honest, I've learn so much over the past 2weeks than last 2years about CPA. For the first time, I actually believe I will succeed, I will be the 0.5%.
I'm not there yet. But I will be soon.

So what I've learn in my journey so far:
1) Find a good forum with genuine information and stick to it. Read everything and get what you can. (This is a great forum for newbies really.)

2) Don't be afraid to contact the 'seniors' and ask questions. If you found someone who are genuine to help you, teach you. Don't waste the opportunity. Treasure it.
Talk to your AM, he/she can a major help for you. Recently I've found a great AM, he goes out the way out to help me find resources that helps me, he also advice me on what offers to try. He even help me out after office hours! I'm grateful to have him as AM. If your AM don't cares about you, even though you try to make contact with him/her many times. Ask for a change of AM. If he/she can't assist you now, he/she can't help you in the future too, even if you were success then (you don't need him/her around then anyway).

3) Find good(genuine) blogs on these topics. There's not many around. 95% are crap, if you found a good one, really dig it.
You will know when you find a good one.

4) Network, form small mastermind group. 1+1 > 2
Don't be afraid to share good information. It's only going to help yourself eventually. What goes around, comes around.
Of course, don't share your landing pages and Ads. I'm talking about offers, strategies, even angles. But don't let people copy your work.

5) Put in LOTS of effort on your Landing Pages and Ads.
I believe other than the planning, tracking, strategies etc. This is one of the most important thing that many have neglected. Research what images works, headlines, colors etc.
I'm working on this too.

6) Always Plan Your Campaign.
I made this mistake for my first campaign, I just chose an offer with high CR and relatively good payout. And didn't research the offer, BAD decision.
Of course, the campaign didn't turn out well. It would have been a curse if it did turn out profitable. Imagine how much learning i will miss out?

So this is my experience thus far.. :)
 
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