Is the Problem… YOU?

You know what it takes to be successful.

As an information marketer who’s been around a while, you’ve read all the remarkable stories of amazing entrepreneurs making bank and you’ve learned all there is to know about product creation. You’ve even mastered the hairier parts – the technical stuff that allows you to throw up websites in your sleep and automate your affiliate program.

You know it all, but you still wouldn’t call yourself “A Success”.

In fact, all that hard work you’ve put in for months or years… it hasn’t paid off in the least. You’ve followed expert advice to the letter. What the heck is wrong?

It could be the problem is really YOU.

There are several possible reasons why you may not be getting the results you think you should be getting with your online business. Let’s explore some issues that might be tripping you up…

Plagued by Perfectionism

This is a huge issue for a lot of folks.

“If I just dot this ‘I’. No, no, scratch that. If I just dot this ‘I’ with a smiley face. Or… should it be dotted with a flower instead? What color? Will the readers like magenta or chartreuse better? Maybe I should do some research or a survey.”

See where this is going? Neither do I. I think this project grabbed itself by the tail and will continue to spin in a circle indefinitely.

One thing is for sure, though; the product will never be ready for the audience it’s intended to help unless the creator learns to cry “Good enough!”

Just in case you need a visual for “Good enough!”, I’ve made a little timeline.

Really, 4 is where you want to release your products, articles, blog posts and whatever else you’re creating. I’m aware that this timeline is more of a 2, but I’m okay with that this one time if Danny is.

Danny’s note: I couldn’t resist, and took a few minutes to bring it up to a 3…

Listening to Others Who Don’t Have a Clue

I see this quite a bit in marketing forums.

Someone asks an intelligent question, and gets an incredible amount of stupid answers from people who are spouting off what they’ve heard but have never tried or had success with themselves. I don’t know if it’s because they want to appear authoritative, or they’re just trying to get their posting count number up to an impressive level, but many of them know not of what they speak.

So who do you listen to?

Marketers you already know and respect, that walk their talk.

Shoot them an email and ask your question. They won’t shoot back, and many will even go out of their way to answer you.

When you get THE answers to your questions, do yourself a favor and take action. Otherwise you’ve wasted time – yours, and theirs.

Hugging Your Product Too Tightly

Every mom thinks her child is smart enough to be the next president, or cute enough to land the next Campbell soup baby model gig – but we both know that her vision is just a tad clouded; she can’t step away and look at her child objectively.

It’s the same way when your e-book is your baby.

Do yourself a big favor and don’t love it too much. You need to look at it through your prospective customer’s eyes and see it for what it really is. Also, you need to let go when it’s time for it to leave home, so you can work on creating and promoting the next one.

After the first one, you’ll find it’s easier to let go.

Keep in mind, sometimes it can be brutal – If it’s a dud and no one is buying despite stellar marketing, then stop pushing it and move on. Don’t be that parent who insists his child deserves a full-ride athletic scholarship when the kid can barely walk without tripping.

Waiting Too Long To Jump In

When big new ideas happen – like Twitter, Facebook, Kindle and Google+ – you need to thoroughly check them out and get “in the know”, whether you end up using them or not.

Why?

You’re an information/content provider, right?

Here’s your chance to scoop the others and provide info products about these big topics. You can bet your tushy online marketers are going to want the info and will buy from those who put it out first.

See, this is an example of providing people with what they want, not creating some lame product on what you think they might need. There’s a big difference.

Bottom line: don’t be a Me Too, be a Me First.

Working Hard but Hardly Working

Whew, you’ve just spent a mean 8 hours working with hardly a break, and you’re exhausted.

I’m absolutely sure this is true!

But what have you accomplished?

You need to do the things that will positively affect your bottom line, not the mind-numbingly boring, time-sucking small tasks that really don’t mean much.

It might not be pretty, but assessing what you’re really spending time on can be illuminating. It can also lead to positive changes and productivity. Find a mantra you can chant throughout your day, or borrow one of my favorites from Tony Robbins: “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”

Small Blog Syndrome

I got this phrase from Blog Tyrant.

It’s when you get an inferiority complex because you compare your blog to other blogs, and feel that yours comes up lacking.

The thing is, your blog may be small now, but it will grow. So what if it’s not ginormous now, you’ve actually got a secret weapon: you can learn from the older, bigger blogs about what works and what doesn’t so you can bypass mistakes and get straight to growing up and getting results. Your blog can skip those awkward teenage years.

People don’t expect, and don’t even really want your blog to be perfect.

They just want to read it, hear what you have to say, and maybe learning something.

If it really bugs you, stop reading the other blogs that make you feel small, especially right before you’re going to write a new post.

Copying Others without Knowing Their Whole Story

This is akin to doing a paint-by-number picture of cats without the important little scrap of paper that tells you what number corresponds with what color. Your attempt to copy the pretty picture will result in a big, messy goo of color, rather than the cat picture you intended.

The guy you’re copying has the instructions and knows how to make it look perfectly like cats.

Your circumstances are not the same, your personality is not the same, your list (or lack thereof) is not the same. So you can’t expect to get the same exact results!

Plus, do you know what’s in the other marketer’s funnel? Chances are, he hasn’t invited you over to his house lately to examine his back-end. He might be giving a product away because he makes his money on the back-end. But you don’t know that, so you copy him and give away a product too, but you don’t have a back-end in place. Big difference, right?

I’m not saying you should never ever copy an idea, I’m just saying that you need to know the whole process, and how they’re making it work for them. This is just my opinion here, but I think it’s easier to do your own thing while staying within a framework of successful marketing best practices.

Fear of Success

Frankly, it’s scary to shake up the status quo. You’ve dreamed of success for sooo long, and now that you’re at the brink of it, you’re petrified. Success can really make you feel uncomfortable. That’s the plain truth.

But it’s okay to be uncomfortable, and when you allow it into your life, it eventually becomes the new “comfortable”.

Where do you go from here? What’s next? How can you top it?

Forget about trying to one-up yourself next quarter – just put your head down, start clacking away on the keyboard, and create killer content your subscribers and customers will love.

Give yourself mini goals and big goals, and just get to work. Stop thinking about the money, it will come if you get past these issues you’ve created for yourself.

Peggy Baron can be found hanging around her blog at PeggyBaron.com/blog or her main place of business, AllstarPLR.com. And if you don’t see her there, try Twitter @pegbaron.

Tagged as: Guest Appearances, Peggy Baron