3 Marketing Mistakes From My Past

Aterrific way to get ahead in the game of Internet marketing and life in general is to learn from and avoid the mistakes that others make. I’ve certainly made more than 3 mistakes in the past but I thought I would share with you 3 major mistakes I’ve made that you can learn and benefit from. Take action today to avoid these major blunders and you’ll avoid the loss, frustration, and setbacks they’ve caused me.

Mistake #1 – Not backing up. One of the keys to keeping your online business intact and running without interruption is to have some kind of backup policy. There’s nothing worse than losing files, especially ones you cannot replace. Without a backup plan not only do you risk losing the hours and days of work you may have put into creating those files, but you will also lose time creating them again and/or trying to find them somewhere else. If you have a good backup plan, you won’t have these problems.

My current backup plan consists of an extra internal hard drive inside my PC that gets backed up to every night at 3am. I also backup to an external hard drive once a month that I keep in a fireproof safe. I have two hard drives in my computer that use something called RAID to simultaneously write everything to both of them, in case one of them fails everything is on the other drive. In addition to this I use Jungle Disk. I love Jungle Disk because it backs up everything offsite to RackSpace could hosting. It’s all encrypted with your own special password which means nobody can access your files but you. Jungle Disk also keeps several previous versions of every file you backup!

My backup plan is pretty extreme, however I’ve learned from not backing up how important it is, trust me, it’s a mistake you don’t want to make.

Mistake #2 – Not going to conferences. When I first started going to Internet marketing related conferences I couldn’t believe I waited so long. Sadly, it took me about 5 years of marketing online before I ever attended one. Once I attended one everything changed, and fast! Not only did a learn a ton, but the face to face connections I made were invaluable and continue to benefit me to this day. In fact, the more conferences I go to the more connections I make and the stronger my existing relationships become.

The first conference I went to I spent most the trip with marketing legend Joel Comm! A great connection that was, I learned a lot from him as well as another marketer Eric Holmlund. As a result I later got the opportunity to visit Joel’s office headquarters in Loveland, CO. Although I don’t currently work with Joel directly, that relationship is there and who knows what could still happen because of it! I did meet his chief idea innovator Dan Knickerson and I still do a little partnership with him to this day. None of this would have happened if I didn’t attend my first conference.

Subsequent conferences I’ve attended have introduced me and allowed me to form relationships with too many people to mention here. As a result I’ve done interviews, exchanged trade secrets, found business partnerships, started projects, formed strong bonds, and made some amazing friends with a ton of marketers in my industry. Enough can’t be said about the benefits of going to marketing conferences. One of my favorites is Affiliate Summit and if you can attend it you should.

Mistake #3 – Not mastering the art of saying “NO”. Saying “NO” is probably the hardest task to master but it’s absolutely crucial and imperative you master it if you want to reach your full potential. There are many different areas in which learning to say “NO” is necessary.

• Opportunities – Turning down opportunities is just as important as taking them. If you can’t learn the art of saying no, you’ll soon find yourself overwhelmed with projects and tasks you most likely don’t want to do.
• Leeches – People who email you wanting free help are basically saying they want to use your precious time for their advantage with nothing in return. Say “NO” to them. There’s nothing wrong with helping people and that’s why I write this blog, but as you get more successful or popular online you’ll find it impossible to help everyone that asks.
• Favors – Again, you can’t do everyone a favor all the time, the busier and more successful you get, the less time you’ll have, you’ll just have to tell them “NO”.
• Borrowers – Finding financial success comes with many advantages, but it also comes with some side effects. One of these is family and friends who want to borrow money from you. People who you know are incapable of paying you back. Trust me, tell them “NO” from the beginning and you’ll be MUCH better off.
• Partners, Affiliates, Employees, & Outsources – Unfortunately some people will take advantage and walk all over you if you don’t set your limits and boundaries. Don’t ever be afraid to express yourself and tell these people “NO” if you need to. This doesn’t mean you have to be difficult, or say it without tact and grace, it just means you have to be firm. You set the rules of how you allow yourself to be treated in life and in business. Saying “NO” when appropriate will teach these people how you expect to be treated and what you will tolerate.

I hope you can learn from these mistakes and most importantly avoid them as much as possible. What are some of the mistakes you’ve made? Leave a comment and share.

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