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Friday, November 9, 2012

New To Online Business? How to Avoid Getting ... - DawnMarrs.com

How to Avoid Getting Overwhelmed When Starting An Online Business

Pardon the cartoon, but I thought it was fitting for today?s blog post? lol

I had interesting day today? my phone didn?t stop ringing, and most of the calls were from people I?d never met who wanted to talk to me about online business.

Each of the people I talked to had recently started a business and were trying to learn to market their business online. But they were feeling overwhelmed by the technology and learning curve, and they were afraid that they didn?t have the skillset they needed to move forward.

After the third phone call, I felt like I needed to share a really important message.

3 Things You Need To Know About Online Marketing:

Everyone feels overwhelmed when they first start marketing online.
Everyone is scared that they don?t have the right skillset.
Everyone feels directionless and confused about what to do next.

Heck, sometimes I still do.

Online Marketing Works And It?s Worth Learning

Let me first just say, that online marketing works and that it is well worth getting past the initial overwhelm. I wandered around on the internet for two years before I made any money? Ya it sucked sometimes, but I learned a ton about marketing (and about myself I should add). And after all that learning, I eventually figured a few things out ? most importantly, how to make a living online.

When it comes to online marketing, remember this Chinese proverb: ?To get through the hardest journey we need only to take one step at a time but we?must keep stepping.?

Think of your education on online marketing the way you would think about getting a university degree? You can?t cram everything into your head all at once! Learn one thing (how to write articles for example), and then apply it to your business. Get good at one marketing strategy before you move on to the next.

Otherwise you?ll just suck at a whole lot of things, instead of being good at any of them. And that is a surefire way to make zero money.

Focus Focus FOCUS

When you first get started online, you?re going to get absolutely bombarded with business opportunities, ebooks, courses and various other bright shiny objects.

You have to make the very conscious decision to shut out all of the noise and FOCUS. The surest way to fail is to be pulled in too many directions.

Pick one business, and then pick one strategy to market it.

Go At Your Own Pace

Everyone learns at a different speed. If you just recently learned how to turn on a computer, don?t expect to be an online guru overnight.

If you?re overwhelmed by WordPress, autoresponders, Facebook Pages, article marketing, SEO and PPC? it?s OK. I?ll even go a step further and say it?s NORMAL.

Recognize that everyone had to learn how to use Aweber. If other people have done it, you can too. Plus, you?re getting started at an amazing time ? everything comes with video training so you can just watch and copy.

Rather than saying ?that?s too complicated? or ?I?ll never get it,? develop the attitude that you?re going to learn it. Period.

Be Consistent

If you?re going to make money online with a blog, you?re going to have to be consistent and post just about every day in the beginning. If you start off strong and blog for a week, then give up because you have writer?s block or don?t have time to write? well, your online career will be over as quickly as it began.

Remember, you learned how to speak a language, read and write, ride a bike, drive a car and tie your shoe laces? all those things seemed complicated once too, but now they?re second nature.

Stay consistent and the same will be true of your online business before you know it.

Find A Mentor

When I first started, I didn?t know anything about online marketing AT ALL.

I set up a free Live website, a Wix site, a Site Build It site, a crappy GoDaddy page, Squidoo lenses and free blogs searching for the answer. I could have avoided that entire learning curve if I had found a mentor right from the start.

Luckily about a year into my online ?education? I found a great mentor, bought his course for $500 and finally found the direction I had been lacking. Which leads me to my next point?

Don?t Be Cheap

That doesn?t mean you should buy every guru product you come across, but good information usually comes at a price. Don?t cheap out on yourself when it comes to quality education.

If there was a university degree program for Internet Marketing (which there isn?t), it would cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Thankfully, online marketing education is a whole lot more affordable, and you can earn while you learn by implementing what you?re learning.

Never Quit

The only people I know who don?t make it in this industry are the ones who give up. They get overwhelmed, they find excuses.

But for the people who just won?t give up, a whole new world of freedom awaits. I won?t tell you it?s easy, only that if you keep at it, it will be worth it.

If nothing else, I hope you realize that everyone has a learning curve when they first start trying to market their business online. Follow these tips and you may not avoid being overwhelmed, but it should help to know that you?re not alone, and that the feeling won?t last forever