Many starting on-line businesses fail simply because they fail to FOCUS. They fail to focus on doing the most important things first. They fail to focus on seeing one project through to completion before starting the next. They jump from affiliate program to affiliate program and never make any real money with any of them. They fail to identify and focus on what is most important to their ultimate success. How can you avoid these all too common mistakes?
The easiest way to start an on-line business is simply to begin marketing someone else’s product. It’s easiest because you don’t have to research the need for and then develop your own product. The downside to this approach is that you usually only earn a one-time commission and have to constantly search for new customers. For many just starting out on-line, marketing affiliate products while learning the ropes and developing your own product is the best approach.
However – as an affiliate you still need incredible focus. Without focus, you will find yourself signing up for far too many different affiliate programs and not having any real success with any. It’s best to find 2 or 3 products that you absolutely LOVE and that are a perfect match for your audience. Then put 100% of your energies into marketing these products. This allows you to focus on really getting to know the products and producing promotional materials that really promote (sell) these few products. Then you can test different ads, different banners, and different approaches to marketing the few products you really know. Your time won’t be so fragmented and it will be easier to analyze your results.
With this kind of focus, you could build a thriving mini-site around the theme of the product (s). This will allow you to get better search engine placement and more targeted search engine traffic. You will attract people looking for a specific product or to solve a specific problem. This approach also allows you to begin building a list that you can market related products to. Once the list members has come to your site demonstrating an interest in the theme of the site, it’s easier to know what other products or services your list members may be interested in. Use you mini-site to pre-sell affiliate products, capture the visitors contact data, and send him on to purchase the product that your web copy pre-sells. It’s a great formula.
Since you are building a list the interest will gradually shift from frantically building a list, to building a higher quality, to giving that list the products, services and information that they need. The long-term success of the list ultimately depends upon how well you identify and provide your list members’ needs.
As your list grows you look for a few more related products to offer the list, or better yet, develop your own. As you introduce each product into your line-up you use a formalized system. You use a step-by-step system for locating and then following up with prospects. An ezine and follow-up autoresponders are ideal for this. One system is to place ezine ads to attract hits to your website or autoresponder. You get these hits to opt-in to your list and you develop a relationship with these people (a mutually benefit-filled relationship).
As you gradually grown your list – and your sales begin to grow at the same time – you will need to continue demonstrating incredible focus. There are so many little things that will keep you from reaching your full potential. You need to develop several skills. These skills are:
1) Learn to do the most important things first. Many of us have more business-related chores than we can ever finish. The key is to do those chores which are most important or generate the greatest return first. I do this by physically writing out a to-do list every day. I also note which one or two chores on this list are THE most pressing or important. I do these before I give myself permission to work on anything else. If they are big chores, I break them down into smaller steps but still require myself to accomplish several of these smaller steps before I give myself permission to do anything else.
2) Learn to use others to help you do things you don’t do well yourself. If a task that will take you hours to do will only take others a few minutes to do because they are more proficient, it often makes more sense to hire them to do this. That frees up your time to do the tasks that you do best. It also keeps you from messing up things that you will only have to hire someone else to correct lately. This is a lesson I learned the hard way 🙂
Along the same lines, admit that you simply can’t do everything. If you are a one-person business, as many of those I communicate with are, you have to decide WHAT you will specialize in and not dabble in too many things. Maybe you can hire assistants to manage certain chores or even get family members to do business related things for you. I do both. The time spent training someone to take over a task so that you can give it to them and then forget it is time well spent! If you operate a business you simply must learn to hire out and delegate certain chores or your business CAN’T grow beyond certain point.
3) Make sure you take care of yourself. Take time to rejuvenate your mind/spirit and to keep your body physically fit. If building a business is giving you ulcers and high blood pressure while your also growing incredibly unfit, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. What use is a fortune if you’re bedridden and can’t enjoy it. Strive to maintain some balance and you will be better able to enjoy the success that will ultimately come to you.
The bottom-line is that you need to force yourself to stay focused. Know what you want all of your efforts to ultimately accomplish for you. Constantly ask yourself if the activities you are doing are moving you in that direction. Constantly examine your efforts and stay focused while maintaining balance. That’s absolutely required for most definitions of success.
Willie Crawford has been teaching Internet marketing for
over 9 years. Take advantage of his uncanny insights and
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