7 Internet Marketing Mistakes Which Are Destroying Your Business

By Terry Dean

Below are 7 Mistakes which you can constantly see many Internet businesses making over and over again. Each of these mistakes can easily cost your business thousands or tens of thousands of dollars yearly.

As a matter of fact, I see many internet businesses out there that have next to no chance of success because a couple of these problems are at the very heart of their business.

If your business is built on a weak foundation, there is no way it will be able to produce maximum income for you even if it does somehow survive.

Mistake #1: You have a short-sighted vision.

Do you have a long term plan for your business or are you just trying to make it through the month?

I know marketers who have a 1 year plan, 5 year plan, 10 year plan, and even a 50 year plan for their business...What does your plan consist of?

A lot of people are making fun of Amazon.com because of the fact that they lose an average of $3.00 per book that they sell. Do you realize though what their long term plan is?

Every single day they are using their large financial backing to take up more and more of the book market share. They are quickly becoming the most well known bookstore on the earth...and every other bookstore is beginning to feel the pressure from them.

I am definitely not suggesting to you that you need to start losing money to gain customers, because most of us small businesses just couldn't afford that tactic. What I am suggesting to you is what you learn the lifetime value of a customer.

It is 7 - 10 easier to sell a product to an existing customer than it is to sell to a new customer. How are you building the relationships with your current customers? Are you seeking out and finding new products that meet other needs and wants they might have? Are you treating your current customers as your most valuable asset in your business?

Mistake #2: You aren't willing to think outside the box.

For many internet marketers, they only see two types of advertising. Number 1 for them is free advertising such as free links, free classifieds, newsgroup participation, and more. Secondly, they see paid advertising such as banner ads, offline advertising, and paid links.

What about finding people in your business to endorse your products or services to their customers and splitting the profits? Jay Abraham and Mike Enlow both list this as the most powerful marketing tool in existence...do you even know about it?

Press releases can get traffic to your site almost overnight if you have something that people want or need...have you worked with the media to get some Free traffic?

Have you considered setting up your own affiliate program? This is the quickest and easiest way to expand the sales of any successful product or business. Let other people start selling it for you!

Mistake #3: You have fallen in love with the wrong product.

Have you fallen in love with the wrong product? It is interesting to note that in the Direct Mail Bootcamp, where a Dozen Top Marketers gathered together to discuss the recipe for marketing success, one of the main reasons for failure that they all agreed upon was...falling in love with your product or service.

I understand that your product may be your baby, but you will have to be willing to give it up if it isn't what the market wants. Every day the world market is changing and you have to be changing right alongside it. It may be that demand for your product is declining...if so, are you willing to give it up and find a product people want?

Start asking some questions of your web site visitors or ezine readers. Ask them what it is that they want. What is it that they are looking for? You may find out that you have been barking up the wrong tree and trying to sell them something that they don't really want (Even if it is what they need).

You will go broke trying to sell people what they need...if it isn't what they want! The actual statistics are that only one out of every seven products turns out to be a winner. Go with the odds and be willing to change if your market WANTS something different.

Mistake #4: You don't have a Unique Web Position.

What makes your site different than everyone else's? Why should they visit you instead of somewhere else? Why should they buy from you instead of the competition?

If you can't answer those questions in one quick sentence, then you don't have the type of UWP you need to succeed in today's worldwide business environment

Spend some time and visit the competition. What is it that you do better than them? What is it that you offer different from them? For example, in the internet marketing sites out there, so many of them are only me-too sites. What are you going to do to make yourself different than the rest? Is it better prices, better services, free stuff, quicker results, etc.?

Mistake #5: You haven't researched your market enough.

Do you know what it is that your market wants? Have you ever taken the time to go back to your customers and ask them why they bought from you in the first place? Have you spent time in discussion groups, mailing lists, and newsgroups to find out what problems people may be having or what they are looking for?

If you don't know why people buy from you, how can you target them correctly or write a sales letter that will hit their hot buttons? I will give you the answer to that one...you can't do it.

Concept is more important than ad copy. Coming up with exactly the right concept (or angle) for your product will make OK ad copy sell like crazy. A poor concept could never be made profitable even by the best copywriters out there.

Mistake #6: You aren't dealing with people as individuals.

Don't talk to everyone...deal with individuals. I believe in automating as much of the sales process as possible, but there still comes the time that you have to deal with people like people. We run the numbers on our sales statistics, but people are not just numbers.

Always remember the human element. Those aren't just email addresses out there. They are real live individuals who have wants, needs, and desires just like you. Deal with them that way.

Be willing to help...Be willing to give away free information...Give away free samples...Be someone that people like.

Mistake #7: You give up too soon.

This almost goes without saying, but many individuals give up too soon. I have seen hundreds of individuals make some of the mistakes above on their sites, lose a little money, and then give up in disgust believing that the internet just doesn't work.

I am not just dealing with your entire business either. Sometimes people give up on advertising too soon. They don't test it enough. Instead of believing that a certain web site isn't a good place to advertise or that a certain ezine doesn't bring in responses for you, did you try editing your ad first. I have seen ads double, triple, or even have as high as 10 times or more effectiveness on the same sites just by a couple of changes.

What do you do now that you know these 7 deadly internet sins?

Read through them...Take them to heart...Make changes in your business if needed. Don't just walk away from this and say, "That was a pretty good article." Use it and let these tips help you in your business.

Then, email me about it. I want to know if this article helps you or if there is anything else I can do for you. Send an email to Terry@bizpromo.com anytime.