Back to the whole "I've been at this for years" challenge - there are 5 big reasons you may not be seeing results. There could be others but these are the biggies:
DON'T KNOW WHERE TO
START
You read forums, you buy WSOs, you've download free guides and you're on everyone's mailing list. Ideas are coming at you left and right and yet, it's just too much to navigate! You have no idea where to start, don't really know if any of this works, or if you have what it takes to make it online.
Solution - Slow down, clear the clutter, and pull out a clean piece of paper. What is it YOU really want to do online? Write reviews, become the king of a niche on Facebook, write and sell fiction, promote products as an affiliate, write about your life, offer a service to others, sell products on Amazon?
Next, look at your skills. Can you write? Do you like to write? Can you design websites, plug-ins, write code, perform a service, create content around a specific niche? Which of the ideas you came up with for things you WANT to do best matches what you CAN do?
Pick ONE idea. Find the best articles, blogs, mentors, or guides around that strategy and start designing a plan for how you can launch your project. Ignore everything else.
CONTENT
If you have a website and you need traffic to make money (as an affiliate or to sell your own products or build your own business clientele) you need content to bring in traffic. Content can be videos, articles, posts on your site, posts on other sites.
But is your content good? Is it GREAT? Could you
do better? How do you know if it's good?
Solution - If the content you've put up isn't working for you get feedback. Go to your family, your friends, someone you trust to give you an honest opinion and get them to critique your content. Weigh the feedback carefully and make any revisions you agree to make based on that
feedback.
SEO
As good as your writing might be, if you rely on Google for traffic you need to get to know how Google works. Sure, their algorithm is an industry secret but it's not a complete
unknown. Don't write just for search engines (it looks funny) but you should be able to incorporate some techniques into your site organization, your use of titles, your use of keywords and phrases in a way that will help you in Google.
Solution - You've got to understand some basics so you can build good on-page SEO into your site.
Read Moz's latest Search Engine Ranking Factors: http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors. Find people who seem to be well regarded in the field of SEO and read their blogs or articles.
EFFORT
If you're spending more time reading online than you are creating then your effort is focused on the wrong thing. Read to gain information you need and then take action. What you do online is really "tangible" in a way. Sure, you can't put your arms around it but you can see it, find it in search results, transfer it
digitally. If all you're doing is gathering information but there's no equal or higher proportion of energy spent on taking action with that information you can't succeed.
Solution - Write down your biggest challenge right now. Research for an hour or two to find a solution. When you've found the solution, stop
researching. Tell yourself you're done reading or researching until you've put in at least the same amount of time in taking real action on your business.
PROMOTION
I love the dream
"build it and they will come" but it's just that - a dream. Sometimes it works but you'll see results much more quickly if you actively promote your site and your business.
If a new pizza place were to open up in your neighborhood and did not put up a "Grand Opening" sign, hand out flyers, advertise in the paper or run a contest just how much
business do you think they'd bring in? Not much.
Solution - Have a promotional plan for your business. Figure out where your target audience hangs out online and get yourself noticed whether that be forums, Facebook, Pinterest, online advertising, press releases or whatever works best for your market.
Those are the big issues.
What issue did I not list that you were surprised wasn't there? TIME. Time is NOT your issue. You can do it slow or you can do it fast but you can still see success. If you want it bad enough
you'll make the time.
With that, it's back to work I go! Hope everyone had a great weekend and let's kick off the week with a great Monday!
Sincerely,
Erica Stone
erica@extremereviewer.com
