But avoiding common marketing mistakes will work for EVERY business. If you make even ONE of these mistakes, you're leaving money on the table:



Mistake #1: Believing, "You can make a fortune online while you sleep."

This mistake has a sidekick or two: "Make millions in just 2 hours a day!" or "Give us a month; never work another full day again!" and "Make a living working less than 2 hours a day!" These are tempting; they're all dangerous.

But these promises aren't the most amazing part - what's outrageous is the number of people who buy into them ? with their time, their money and their hearts.

Avoid Mistake #1: Ignore pie-in-the-sky promises ? you'll have to spend serious time on a serious Internet business.

Mistake #2: Believing, "You can support yourself online with just a small investment."

This headline captures attention, but that's all it does.

Your Internet business is just that ? a business. Develop a budget you can afford; don't take a risk you cannot. Almost everyone loses some money along the way to making their business successful. Plan for that.

Avoid Mistake #2: Spend a realistic amount of money to grow your business.

Mistake #3 "Get in on the opportunity you're excited about FAST ? before it's too late."

For an Internet marketer, this is probably the worst piece of advice. These pyramid-like "business opportunities" sound too delicious to be true, and they are. It's never "too late" to begin with a solid business opportunity, and they are likely to generate profits whenever you set up shop.

Avoid Mistake #3: Do your homework before you do anything else!

Mistake #4: Having no marketing plan.

With a little help, anyone can write one. Get started by making lists: a daily task list, a weekly to-do list, monthly benchmarks, and so on. Figure out what you need to do every day to get the number of emails out, flyers distributed, ads placed, press releases written, and articles published to achieve your goals.

Avoid Mistake #4: Outline your battle plan and follow it to the letter.

Mistake #5: Not getting enough visitors to click on your site.

I'm sure you've read story after story about people who make mega-bucks on just a few hundred hits a day. Yes, it's possible you could break the records, too. But it's quite unlikely you ever will.

If you build your website, they will NOT come. You've got to push them there.

Avoid Mistake #5: Use as many methods as you can to drive traffic to your site.

Mistake #6: Sending out sales and recruiting emails all day long.

Some say marketing is a Numbers Game. Is it? Not exactly.

You can calculate the number of prospects you must have to get the number of hits you need to get the number of click-throughs necessary to end up with enough visitors who read your sales message. From there, you can determine how many visitors you need to convert one into a paying customer.

Everyone needs to know their conversion rate, but it's not about pushing tons of warm bodies to your site. It's about getting the RIGHT eyes to examine your offer.

Avoid Mistake #6: Get as many targeted leads as you can afford.

Mistake #7: Using weak headlines.

Weak headlines are deleted or ignored. If they're going to bother to read your copy, you'd better knock 'em down flat to get their attention first. Don't spend more time writing sales copy than on writing an attention-grabbing headline. If your headline makes someone open your message or web page, you're well on your way to making a sale.

Avoid Mistake #7: Learn how to write irresistible headlines.

Mistake #8: Not building a personal prospect list.

The mere fact that someone came to your website, and maybe even skimmed it, is a victory for you! Why let them click away? Make your traffic generating investment worth it's weight in gold.

If you wouldn't dream of asking someone for their email address because you just hate doing that, you're trading principles for profits. You probably have a WEALTH of information about your niche that your visitor would gladly release their email address to receive.

Avoid Mistake #8: Provide an opt-in mechanism on your site so you can follow-up with every prospect.

Mistake #9: Once a prospect becomes a customer, they're yours.

Wrong! People are fickle, they constantly search for greater value, and they won't be loyal to you ? especially online. On the Internet, it's fast and easy to click onto the next guy's offer and then the next guy's.

After all the time, energy and resources you've invested in getting them to purchase from you, don't ignore them after making the sale.

Avoid Mistake #9: Don't drop your paying customers from your marketing plan.