The #1 reason people fail to make money online is....?

I am writing a very interesting post for my blog right now, the topic...information overload and lack of focus. Clearly, in my opinion information overload and lack of focus is the number one reason why people fail to succeed online.

What I think is besides the point, what do you think? You've seen and heard about the failures, in your opinion, why do people fail to succeed online? Again, I think people just assume that they have to master every technique today. After applying a strategy without any results to show for it, they simply give up and go in another direction.

Is it because they have a short attention span, or is because they had very unrealistic expectations? I'd say...a little of both. I hope that you and I can help some of the readers see that building a business does not happen over night, and if it does it's probably doomed to fail.

Learn to take pride in setting up a solid foundation, learn to play offense instead of always playing defense (reacting). A new way of thinking can start today, with this post. I hope some of the members will leave comments that will change the way people think about this whole Internet Marketing biz. You can win at this,

Most people quit before they ever have a chance to succeed. If I would've quit at 3 months or even at 9 months when I was only making about $30 - $100 a month I would never have seen success.

Secret to success is to be consistent.... My main focus is my SBI site so even though there are days when I can't seem to write much ( ahem, it has been a few weeks this round that I have had major writers block!)... as long as I add a little something to my site ( it can be as simple as adding an extra paragraph to a page or submitting it to a new directory) EVERY day, I am still ADDING to the value of it and traffic continues to climb...

(I unashamedly promote SBI as one of the best tools to GET STARTED as a beginner ) ... one BIG reason so many fail is because of information overload - like you said - and NO DIRECTION...

- there - that is my penny's worth.

Too much info can confuse anyone. When I got started online, I was given a lot of info and I did not know where to go or where to begin.

When you do have a lot of stuff thrown at your face on how to make money online, you tend to get frustrated and when that happens, people quit.

In my first 5 years, I think I did not make any money. I lost money but again consistency and finding a good mentor was one of my keys to my success after 5 yrs.

I have been in more MLM's than I care to remember!! Both offline and online.

I agree with the previous posters. Too much information and no direction and no guidance on what to do with the info is a downfall. Some people get into the training so much that they never get to doing the real work. Like a professional student that never gets a job. (no offense on any of this intended)

Some people can't get out of their comfort zone. Some people listen to all their friends (which can be determent to them as well). Just because your friend failed at something doesn't mean it is the same fate for you

They get into something they can't be passionate about. So there goes the lack of interest quickly

Get defeated too quickly like tfal and mountainmom have pointed out you can't expect to get rich or even make money for months. So get rid of that one thought will improve your odds dramatically. I think that is about #1 killer to people trying to do business. They have the job mentality and not a business mentality.

Get busy with life and what it is throwing at you. Don't have the discipline it takes to do it everyday.

Well I will stop. I am sure there are other things as well but I will let others comment. Hope I have helped some.

information overload can drive someone crazy, taking it all in slowly is a big factor and realizing Rome wasn't built in a day

I agree with you all....

all those shiny new things that appear in your inbox on a daily basis -- mostly they are distractions.

I've started filtering a lot of marketers into special folders so they don't distract me anymore. When I want to check what they're hawking right now, I can always go look. But in the meantime I find it easier to stay focused on doing my work.

I have been working to build my online business for about 6 weeks and am yet to generate my first dollar. In many ways I am probably the prime audience for your article, perfectly positioned to succeed or fail.

based upon my experienece I wholeheartedly agree with your comment regarding the need for focus and feel like I am combating distraction almost everyday. I deal with distraction by keeping a "check it out" list - things to look into or start working on when I have completed the course I am working through (SBI is currently in poll position.

I think the interesting question asks why maintaining focus is such an issue and I don't believe it's as simple as information overload.

I believe that in the early days a huge part of the issue is to do with belief : belief in the system, product or technique you have bought into and belief in your own ability to make money online.

As I have begun to explore this world and build my business I have been exposed to many different techniques and systems each with their own advocates and stories of financial success. When you are yet to make a buck there is no proof of your own ability and nothing to reinforce the potential for success. It therefore becomes very tempting to wander off and try pastures new.

Belief protects us from distraction. I would suggest that people fail be they do not believe.

In these early days I am holding patience and persistence as my guiding principles and even though I have no personal evidence I am trying very hard to build a strong belief in the system I am working with. I hope my strategy works!

JackieM

This is quite an interest thread!

I don't think there is or can be a universal #1 reason people fail to make money. Too many variables are involved, as indicated by the excellent responses so far.

However I noticed there is a common element that connects many of the statements in this thread, like a thread. (Pun intended! ) It's DISCIPLINE... or lack of it!

weebitty: Get busy with life and what it is throwing at you. Don't have the discipline it takes to do it everyday.
Sherrod: Is it because they have a short attention span...?
mountainmom5: Secret to success is to be consistent....
talfighel: When you do have a lot of stuff thrown at your face on how to make money online, you tend to get frustrated and when that happens, people quit.
bbray95: taking it all in slowly is a big factor and realizing Rome wasn't built in a day
It requires a fair degree of discipline to conquer each of the above observations.

JackieM293: Belief protects us from distraction. I would suggest that people fail because they do not believe.
Well said, Jackie! Belief is perhaps the big umbrella under which everything else falls. If you start out with the firm belief that you can succeed, eventually you come to realize you also need to develop other qualities to make it happen, such as: discipline, direction, focus, consistency, patience and persistence... to mention a few.

Hermas

There may not be a universal number 1 reason, unless you categorize the failure relative to certain points or positions of the business.

There's the matter of the "right" business for the income objective one seeks.

The "right" effective marketing strategies.

The "right" mindset to overcome challenges and distractions.

In general if one doesn't have the mindset, or develop it, to do for self going into a home business or brick and mortar business is useless. From birth the masses are conditioned to be a slave to a job to make a living.

In that same line, if one is involved or pursuing a business venture that has a compensation structure that requires one to "move mountains" to succeed then income will be slow to not coming.

But with that in mind, if one is engaging in effective marketing to the targeted audience and/or not using the right tools to attract the necessary leads and conversions then nothing much can be expected to happen but failure.

So the #1 reason for failure question probably has to be put in the proper context to be answered properly.

Since marketing comes after getting involved in a business, it may not be the number one reason for failure. As many people can and or are able to learn and engage in effective marketing, but some don't even have the "I'm going to win" mindset and/or the "right" business to succeed even if they are marketing effectively with the right tools.

In my business we've identified 3 major reason that have hindered average and ordinary people from having success in network marketing home business and we purpose to bring forth a solution so that such stops on the grand scale that it has occurred in the past.

It is important to understand reason's for failure so one can wisely avoid such themselves as they pursue home business success.

Sherrod: I am writing a very interesting post for my blog right now, the topic...information overload and lack of focus. Clearly, in my opinion information overload and lack of focus is the number one reason why people fail to succeed online.
I totally agree. I had that problem for about a year. I finally realized you can't do everything at once. I had to decide what part I was going to focus on and learn and then decide if it is something I want to continue. Then I go to the next step. Once you decide to focus and just work on what you decide it makes your life a lot easier. Information overload is a big problem when you are starting out.

This thread is one of the reasons I like to spend time here, a lot of great advice for people new to work at home type businesses.
For some reason, most of the people I know think that even though it takes years and a lot of money to make a brick and mortar business successful, an on line business or mlm should be free and happen overnight. Most businesses fail within the first 5 years, in fact right now a lot of big name franchises are failing, names you would know, Subway, Quiznos, Curves, and many others. If you work hard and smart, and have the right opportunity, you can be very successful at any on line or direct sales business. It is very overwhelming when you start any thing online. There is so much to learn, SEO, PPC, articles, videos, who knows which way to go. I don't think I can do it all and do any of them very good, so I am picking a couple of things to do,and try to master them, if that don't work in a few months, I'll try something else.

If you are going to write, just be specific with your info and always stick to your main topic. Just make it clear and concise.

You're goal as a writer is to make your readers understand the topic easily. Just don't include too much irrelevant information. This will help you succeed.

For some reason, you can also fail to earn money online if you fall from the hands of spammers.

writepro: all those shiny new things that appear in your inbox on a daily basis -- mostly they are distractions.
This is so true. As soon as I'd decided on the system I was going to follow I opted out of all of them.

Now I focus 100% on that system, and WHEN I have it working only then will I start the next thing.

Great topic! Great replies!

Like some of you already said, there can be a lot of reasons why we fail on making money online. Let me point out some things here that you guys might agree with or not.

I am sure you all heard this saying already "97% people fail and 3% succeed on making money online". Not in these same words, but something like this. Not sure how they can figure this out. But I am sure it is close.

I look at it this way. Those 3% people out there that are doing well on making money online are the people that has a LIST of people that follow them. So a lot of us are followers trying to make a living like those 3% people.

I personally feel that us 97% people out there can make a difference. I feel it really comes down to the product & compensation plan. In other words, the business itself.

If you have a product that most people want and can AFFORD you are going to make a sell. This in return makes you money.

What I see going on is that these top online businesses out there has great products, but they have the shipping cost up high and the product price is up there too that turns people away.

People now days do not have a lot of money and they rather go to their local stores to buy kind of the same product you are offering them at a much lower price.

We need a product that we can sell to our friends and family members that does not cost alot and people can use along with a nice compensation plan to go with it.

I can say now that I might have found the right business, but we all say that about the business we are in. So it is kind of a circle.

But right now I am not in that business I feel covers what I am saying. I might join it soon. Right now I am in a business that people can only get online. So this takes away that competition of our local stores and the high shipping costs; due to you download the product.

But it goes back to the owner. My business owner has not updated the product to add value to it. Now guess what just happen?

A new online business comes out with kind of the same great compensation plan, but with newer updated products.

Now what do you think is happening right now while I am typing this? Yes, I am losing my downline to this new business that just came out; due to there is no value in the product I am offering in the business I am in now.

I finally started making money for the first time online in this business; due to they have a great comp plan and an ok product that just needed updated.

I had to say this to give you guys a great example of how the business itself (Owner) is very important too for you to succeed on making money online and the competition out there can get in the way also.

Regards,

I think failing at anything involves several things. Lack of focus for sure. Information overload, poor or no planning, not specific enough goals and in many instances just giving up too soon.

My experience has been that whenever I start something the more mistakes I make the more successful I get at that particular endeaver as long as I'm willing and able to stick it out long enough to learn from the mistakes and apply what I learned to the new situation.

My experience with internet marketing is that there are thousands of people with a so called system that will make you a bunch of money in a short period of time and it's easy to get sucked into them because we're desperate for some success.

The worse thing a new internet marketer can do is try out every system they come across. You might luck out and find something that works but most likely, at least in my case I had to take bits and pieces of different programs and put them together into something that worked for me.

It's still a work in progress but getting better and easier by the day.

My advice to newbies is to study and hang in there. And if you're really discouraged read the book "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne.

Good luck. Thom

Sherod you hit the nail firmly on the head.
Unfortunately I must agree with everything you wrote in your post.
I say unfortunately because it all applies (applied) to me.
It took me almost 2years to make my first $100 on line, during that time I built up a lot of knowledge and a huge array of resources but despite spending thousands of hours at the computer I never seemed to get the time to apply it all, allways looking for the next great thing or learning something new. Thankfully my motivation for NEEDING to succeed is huge so giving up has never been an option.
Finally I joined a beginners course, all the information was in one place so no more searching around for it and more impotantly everything was set out in easy to follow steps so it gave me the focus I needed.

Here's another thing I found to be VERY *VERY* true why a lot of people fail online.

This is a lesson I learned the hard way.

I got this from someone who sent me an email and it is very very true:

".....But there is another extremely important factor that
determines success or failure as an affiliate marketer. That
is whether or not the company pays you one time or pays you
residual income for a single sale. This is a big, BIG, *BIG*
factor you need to consider before you join ANY affiliate
program.

If I was promoting products from affiliate programs that
only paid me one time for a sale, I'd still need a job
somewhere else to cover my basic living expenses....."

Think about the above a lot and see what it really means.

Tal

A lot of times people fail because they give up too easily. It takes time to BUILD your business and giving it a time cap doesn't usually work.

So much has already been mentioned, but one of the things that I think is a great hindrance to success is "perception."

When someone comes online in an effort to learn how to make money, their perception is quite often not based on reality. There are various forces that shape their perception (not the least is all the GRQ rubbish they are bombarded with), but until perception and reality can be more closely aligned, individuals fall into many of the traps you guys have already mentioned - information overload, giving up too soon, etc.

If you are fortunate to find something early on that helps to shape your perception and give you solid guidance and just the right amount of information when you need it, you have a much better chance of achieving online success.

Blessings,
Angie

happywife: ...but until perception and reality can be more closely aligned, individuals fall into many of the traps you guys have already mentioned - information overload, giving up too soon, etc.
Very nicely stated, Angie!

In an ironic way, falling into many of the traps may itself be a process for aligning perception and reality, and getting an individual on track. Of course that depends on whether the individual perceives the "traps" as obstacles or stepping stones.

Hermas