Unfortunately, a large portion of people who actually try end up failing miserably. What these produce is a bad taste, and the ripple effect from their failure can be heard throughout the internet marketing community. Everything to them that involves online marketing is just a scam and those involved are basically scammers.

Realistically, most of these newbies made a lot of drastic errors in many of their judgement calls, which inevitably sabotaged any chances of reaching success. In order to find success as an online marketer, one needs to understand some of the basic principles of doing business online. This includes gaining knowledge of certain processes, procedures and required tools, plus a little perseverance, a whole bunch of patience, and a never-ending attitude to take action.

Living the laptop lifestyle

Sounds simple, right? No matter how you look at it, there’s really no other way to find success with online marketing. Not even the popularly advertised laptop lifestyle that you see all over the internet can make things easier for you.

The fantasy lifestyle of you sitting on a beach and sipping on a Pina Colada while working is just that, some fantasy. However, that doesn’t mean a certain laptop lifestyle cannot be achieved. What makes it real is taking time to understand, learn, and work towards success by having in place certain automated systems that can help produce a passive income for you each and every month.

Here’s part of the learning process that I mentioned above. 5 mistakes that online marketers generally make. Just remember, it’s in your best interest to avoid these common mistakes.

Putting off taking action until you feel ready

Come on, really? Most people who get involved with online marketing can’t wait for the opportunity to make money. Yet, this happens to be one of the biggest mistakes. When it comes to learning, many newbies have a bad habit and carry it to the extent. That is, they simply get stuck going around in circles. They have to have every bit of information available. From obtaining every eBook possible to watching hours upon hours of YouTube videos learning to make money online. Their intentions are great, but unfortunately, nothing really happens.

Why? Because they failed to do one of the most important steps with internet marketing. They failed to take Action! Like many other skills or interests in life, you simply learn by doing. It would be hard for you to learn some sports activity by not participating in it. What is NIKE’s motto, “Just Do It.” You need to overcome inactivity and get the process rolling. If you take action, you’ll soon get results and understand the areas that need your attention in order to be successful.

Not understanding a passive business model

When you first start with online marketing, you may easily find yourself strapped to your computer. As a newbie, you begin learning as much as possible and soon discover yourself doing everything. This is nothing new for many offline and online businesses, and it’s commonly referred to as bootstrapping. Money is often tight, or in some cases, not immediately available. Hey, that’s perfectly alright. When I first started out, and even though I was working full-time, I still had to budget out certain expenses.

Of course, the business you are trying to set-up with internet marketing should at some point down the line be able to operate without your presence. Eventually, automation and outsourcing will become your best friends.

Keep this in mind. Your true success online will include help from others. Think about it, as you learn and develop and your online business grows and expands, it will more than likely be impossible to complete every task yourself. Everything from content writing, graphics, website development, SEO, video production and marketing, podcasts, webinars, product development, sales, marketing, social media, support, and more.

Your primary focus and attention will be doing activities that are solely income generating. The other irrelevant things can easily be outsourced through various virtual assistants.

Having an education and expecting to win it all

I don’t mean to burst your bubble here, but there’s very little weight with paper qualifications when it comes to internet marketing. A lot of newbies who finished their education loaded with all sorts of degree qualifications, expect to win right out of the gate.

Although, reality sets in fast when they realize that a degree does not guarantee success. Truth is, being an internet marketer is basically about the profits, and nothing to do with earning wages. If your goal is to get a job with some company, then a degree will definitely count.

When you are trying to market online, your customers care less whether you have some degree or a bunch of rug-rats. They just want the best value from the products they are buying, and the best products that will help them the most. If you can manage to provide these things, you’ll easily start earning online.

Food for thought, your focus should always be with the customer, and not with any fancy titles after your name.

Not including a business model that is profitable

Every newbie who starts out online will have the option of following many paths. Many of these can be scaled-up and provide unlimited opportunities for profitability, while others may experience somewhat lower expectations. One of the great things surrounding internet marketing is the opportunity of creating info-products. Why? Because it’s only LIMITED by your skills, creativity and imagination!

Of course, if you choose to take the role of a contract worker, your wages or income is geared by what the client agrees to pay. Depending on the role that you actually choose, the number of jobs you can take on will also be limited. This path can prevent any chances of you scaling up.

That’s why it’s important to work with business models that provide opportunities for you to scale up, and provide you with even greater opportunities of setting your own prices.

Use your strengths and capitalize on them

Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s good to know both, but the important thing is capitalizing on your strengths. If you enjoy writing and it flows naturally for you, that’s your strength. Become a writer and produce content for people.

You don’t want to become a video marketer and struggle to get in front of the camera just because some kid is making millions playing games on YouTube. Or how about tackling something like graphic design and spending eight to ten hours working on a logo that should have taken an hour.

The key is to focus more on your initial strengths and capitalize on them to their fullest. You’ll eventually come out ahead and start making money online. That’s where your success will be.