What Is The Major Obstacle That Prevents People From Succeeding In Their Online Businesses?

No marketing or business knowledge, experience or acumen.

What Is The Major Obstacle That Prevents People From Succeeding In Their Online Businesses?

Focusing on one thing.

According to me, there are many small obstacles that create a huge impact, i.e major obstacle. few are listed for beginner below:

1. Not Having A proper plan.

2. Not having required knowledge.

3. Most important is not having consistency in work.

this are some of the huge obstacles that a newbie would face.If this are mastered then the problems may be solved easily.

Believing you can strike it rich overnight without investing any money.

Simply don't have what it takes to be successful i.e. drive, commitment, determination, alligator-blood, and mainly perseverance. You don't need education and experience at first, if you're enough motivated you can get those over the course of time. You can't make great discoveries, unless you have the courage to lose the sight of the sea-shore. Business operation isn't for everyone, you can test the water, if you find out it's not the type of vodka you're looking for, move on without wasting significant amount of time. Its not a crime working for others.

Biggest obstacle is INDEED, themselves (ourselves).

I agree 100%, putting your prospects and customers first is a huge key to unlocking the success so many seek.

My 30 year online marketing mantra has been:

Find hungry monkeys, give them low hanging bananas.

It ain't that hard, really.

Start, adjust, continue. But start at GO, and follow the plan, and adjust as you solve your problems in the direction of your WIN.

GordonJ

That their expectations don't match reality. Starting any business, whether online or offline, takes a great deal of strategy and planning. Plus an investment of time, money or both. Most people seemingly believe they can simply "build it and they will come" then are miffed when they struggle to make money.

Thinking that 'it's easy'
Usually people sell the idea of 'make money online with one click' alot to newbies, having that idea in mind drives them to laziness, and disappointment in the end when it doesn't work out.

So being motivated and not giving up, putting time to learn and then make a goal and plan is the path!

Traffic ==> Offer ==> Money

They don't understand or believe that it CAN be that simple.

P.S. Also, the whole getting stuck on "free" traffic. And the not taking action. And the getting caught up in the whole goo-roo game. There's more. Depends on the individual, though.

I'm always amazed at the number of people who seem to reply to the subject line without actually reading the post below it.

Excellent illustration of Amuro's point about people recommending things based on what they think people need, rather than actually listening and responding to what they want.

4 years on the 22nd of April...

I became homeless.

Flash back to 2011, I quit my job as a T-Mobile customer care rep to try to fit my ass in someone's Web Design agency.

Capital One took a bite and boy I was HAPPY!

3 days pass and no word.

4. Than 5.

Finally I bugged the office for an answer.

You know what they said?

"Your interview went well and we love your work. We decided it would be best to not hire you as you're high energy and we believe you'll get bored."

And you know what?

They're right.

Think about it, who the hell wants to sit at an office all day, creating graphic work for people who'll get ALL the credit?

The same work, EVERY DAY?

No thanks.

Or should I say Thanks? Lol.

Because no joke within 1 week I went live with my own Web Design business.

I spent three sleepless nights promoting my buisness on Craigslist.

The feelings: fear. Oh yes. Fear was HUGE.

Here I am, on the edge of losing my savings and pissing my girlfriend off because we can't pay for shit.

The only focus: this better work.

It has to.

No bullshit, maybe a day later I get an email to call this chic about building a website.

I call real quick, after calming my girlish excitement of course.

And omg when she tells me she's modeled for Victoria Secret and Vogue...

I nearly died.

I'm like wait, hold on. Why in the hell would she scout help on Craigslist?

Noooo we can't think like that.

We met at the right place at the right time, right?

Right.

So, she hires me for website, Wikipedia page, press kit, and a Facebook page.

$7,000!!!

For two weeks work, I kid you not.

That may not seem like a high number but let's be clear:

I was a total newbie at this!

With being a newbie came crazy mistakes.

We're talking overpromising and under delivering.

Also, not fishing for a line.

You need winners around you ESPECIALLY when you're losing the wheel.

You see, it's okay to tell your clients the truth about what your capable of building.

Wouldn't you want that, too?

And my business started to fold as I didn't know how to keep a work-personal life balance.

That's key.

I didn't reinvest my earnings into the business.

Big no no.

You'll go under quick when you think there's space to spend this extra money.

There's no extra money.

The first year, maybe even two years into growing your business online, you're "broke".

Why?

Because you're growing your business. All that money goes into a funnel.

The most successful build funnels.

I chose to build expenses.

And that's how after a year, I went homeless.

It blew my mind.

The one thing I read that happened to these old school entrepreneurs, has now happened to me.

Bogus.

I needed something to keep money in my pockets.

Copywriting.

I did a couple campaigns for myself. Didn't seem too hard.

Wrote a "WSO for hire" sales letter and sold out my goal of 10 at $49 each.

Not bad.

Than I was hired for a long term project at $125 per week.

Pretty cool until it wasn't enough to keep the lights on.

And then, all resources gone.

I lost steam. Talk about head down.

I took a much needed break from the online abyss.

5 Years. Yeah, a lot.

Major obstacle: Not realizing pulling back is NOT failure, but progress.

And I did come back. Felt like I never left.

But yeah never again.

Don't be that person. Be forward moving.

1. Most people are not willing to learn and apply.
2. They think it's easy and automatic so they put in less effort.
3. The truth is, " it takes either a lot of time and or money to make anything work whether it's online or offline", but unfortunately few of us are willing to believe these two things. The truth is if it was easy everyone would be doing it and the traffic would become fierce.

If you can build a website and get traffic to it, you can make money. In fact, everyone with a traffic that's profitable can make money from it.

Hi Amuro,

#1 - Singapore is awesome and I have only been in Changi LOL. One of the best airports on earth.

Really interesting my friend.

I actually experienced the reverse effect in some cases; when I cleared fear around what I was selling, folks began buying my products and services, even if I tackled bizarre topics.

Example: I wrote an eBook about how to learn 7 blogging lessons from me being stalked and chased by 2 Thai lady boy prostitutes. I swear, I really did write a whole eBook on the topic LOL. Did so because it felt fun and I knew it'd be helpful too.

Seemed like nobody would ever Google this term - maybe weird people - but the clearer I got on its value and the more fear I released on actually selling the thing, influential marketers gobbled it up and loved it, saying it should be framed and asking for autographed hard copies.

I cleared the fear. Folks who vibed with it bought it and dug it. Like a mirror effect.

But totally agree; many of my premium offerings are based on the needs of individuals, pinpointing problems and pain points, offering solutions through my products and services.

Ryan

Hi Ryan Biddulph

We may have the best airport, buildings, homes and schools.

And living conditions.

Those are beautiful surface you see as a neutral.

Now this is a serious problem.

Most of these are NOT built by my people be it constructions or concepts.

They are initiated by our PAP government and foreign labor they recruited to do those.

Right now, we are NOT facing unemployment.

But underemployment. In which graduates are not able to get the jobs they want in interest, relevance to what they studied and wages.

And given the fact that our costs of living be it homes, transport and education are rising without any caps, our wages could not keep up with the inflation.

That is why more and more of my people are turning to IM.

Though I have done so 10 years ago during Global Financial Crisis which cost my dad in investments, savings and life.

And made me realize never to rely on government and bosses for a living.

Problem is the baby boomers - our parents and grandparents don't see it that way. They are what formed the catalyst of our society in community and teamwork values.

They still think what worked in the past still worked now.

They also see computers and internet as "instruments of evil that could lead Singapore to the dark side of the force."

Like Greece in bankruptancy.

And our government supports them as most key ministers are within their age of 50-70s.

So anyone trying to be creative, innovative and entrepreneur, only a small handful succeeded.

Ewen Chia - my compatriot and World's No 1 Super Affiliate as he claims - is still working like a typical employer / employee.

And I know this for the fact that I learnt from him as subscriber, customer and worked for him as employee.

Even though my probation was unsuccessful as the job involved communicating with high-paying customers on phone.

And I am still learning and weak in offline business communications.

Yes..you have a point..but I would say that the number one obstacle in this journey is not related to marketing, niche, technical stuff, etc, it's more about THE MINDSET they have.

People want to make money on the Internet easily thinking that it's Easy not willing to put in all the needed effort and discipline to learn, apply and grow their skills and business.

Not willing to take a chance, or 2 or 3. Most people allow themself to be held back by themself because they're not willing, too scared, or don't have the money to take chances.

Being successful with internet marketing comes with a great deal of trial and error. No marketer made it big the first time, it all came with not being afraid to take risks, spend money and putting whatever time is necessary in to make it happen.

Those who believe riches happen over-night with a complete done for you source are sheer entertainment and the perfect example of what NOT TO BE!

Scott.

In my opinion, it's the lack of focus and clear goals. People try a business model and give up weeks later when they don't see any result yet. Or at least they don't know what a result looks like...

Yes this is one of the main error, i mean an error not an obstacle.

People who sell what the market even do not know or want have a completely misunderstanding of the proccess.

An obstacle is quite different.

Is something on the path to overcome.

And the most difficult obstacle in succeeding in EVERY Business is: LACK OF CONSISTENCY.

People start good, when they know what to do, and do not consider that there is a curve: you learn, you apply and get some results, you feel motivated than suddenly results may drp and here you need consistency and keep working to have more stable growth

They give up on the fist wave of failures. They get their emotion go through their thinking. The difference between those who made it and those who did not is persistence.

Inaction... over-thinking things.

You don't have to get it right the first time, you just need to DO SOMETHING and then not make the same mistakes over and over again.

I've been in business only for 22 years, and made tons of mistakes. You can recover from most mistakes, but if you spend forever preparing, you'll never get anywhere.

Do your research, determine what you THINK that your market wants, and then offer it to them. If you take too long in doing that, market conditions will change, and you're back at the starting line.

Ready, fire, aim :-)

My take on this is for one to be successful in online business you have to pick a niche and stick to that until you attain expected success.

I think there are many relevant answers to this question, however from my own personal experience, it comes down to persistence and patience. If you are driven to succeed and are willing to be patient, success will come.

Hi, I know form years of experience that it is never one thing that stops a persons internet marketing success. There are many and they can differ from person to person.
What I will say is a few of the main obstacles are:

• Unrealistic expectations and goals,

• Not knowing where to start

• Improper Mindset

• Trying too many different methods without giving one a chance to work (chasing the next new shiny object).

• Believe it or not, lack of basic computer skills and not taking the time to learn.
• To much information (information overload or burnout)
• Not enough information (getting bad information, guidance, coaching or none at all).
• More work that expected.

The major obstacles above can even be broken down to more specific obstacles all of which can prove deadly to those wanting to make money online as some form of Internet marketer.


The good news is all of these obstacles can be overcome if the needed effort is put in to it.

Information Paralysis.

There is more then enough information, whether free or paid, to start almost any business.

Everyone starts differently and when it comes down to starting a business, sometimes you just need to start and stop over analyzing what others are saying.

Q. What Is The Major Obstacle That Prevents People From Succeeding In Their Online Businesses?

A. Gosh, this is such a loaded question but I'll take a crack at it with my 2 cents.

In the beginning I would say not having a mentor of some sort...someone that doesn't necessarily have all the answers, but will at least point you in the right direction.

Further down the road I would say not having a clearly definable goal, and then along with that, not having an intelligible day to day gameplan to reach that goal.

Hey how about this...if you are in the IM business game on any level, you ARE still in the game and good things are bound to happen. Giving up is the only way to really fail...lack of money or time is the prerequisaite to failing but those two things are not failure in and of themselves.

Keep snooping around, keep testing, bump elbows with others in the IM game and good things will probably happen before you know it.

1. Thinking it is easy when its not.
2. Not working hard enough
3. Not learning how first
4. Forgetting to Help their audience.

Competition that is better than what you provide. You can hopefully outdo them and refine your product or service to a point that is hard to improve on for them.

I think it is the greatest obstacle that we all face.

I strongly believe that the major obstacle which prevents people from succeeding in their online business is the eagerness to make money. I see people nowadays are mad at making money online and thus they throw their business into the market.

But what they don't know is without strong base i.e marketing knowledge and market understanding it's really hard to win the battle.

Not modeling a proven system that works.

When you decide to stop experimenting new things trying to succeed in it and instead start modeling what really works.

That's when you'll start getting results.

I would suspect lack of marketing knowledge / experience and/or funds, assuming it was a viable online business to start with. Also, while I'm not one that believes much in mindset. I do believe you have to have drive / persistence and willingness to take the necessary risks.

Growing up my parents rode me all the time about getting a good job. The entire time I was like screw that...I can make more money in one day with my own business than I could an entire week as an employee. Needless to say, I've only had a few jobs in my entire life.

I agree this is a hard one for people, but not the main obstacle.

The main obstacle to people making money online or becoming successful at all is laziness.

So many people want to take the easiest path possible and don't understand why the pot of gold isn't waiting for them at the end.

Benjamin Ehinger

People who don't have a proper plan seems to fail.

I find often people have unrealistic expectations and give up far too soon.

The biggest problem I run into in my own business is keeping my enthusiasm running on high-octane. If I can keep accomplishing that, money almost always follows. If our attitude is right, any of us can learn whatever it is we need to succeed online.

Biggest problem I think is lack of self belief. When a person sees other commenting that it is impossible to make a living online, he finally gives up one day.

amuro,
I think you're right. I think by nature, we are all somewhat driven by our own selfish needs and desires. And we focus on those, not what other people might actually be asking for.

I am a perfect example of this. Even knowing what you say is true, I still tend to want to just build websites based off my own interests. Took me years to figure out that's not a lucrative business model

In other words, it is fairly easy to understand that obstacle, not so easy to accept it and apply it.

Making money online is for professionals now. Being amateurish doesn't work unless you're super lucky. Apart from that, you need seed some (the more the better) start-up capital for ad spending, which not everybody can raise, thus failure is inevitable. Looking for free traffic is the prime reason that people fail. Google or Facebook aren't charitable organisations that they send you traffic for free. People who get most free traffic also spend huge money on ads (YouTube); most Google traffic is occupied by established media outlets or a very small group of highly dedicated individuals who started their blogs years ago.

If you're new to the Internet marketing, I tell you stay away from free marketing strategies, and go paid route.

Here are 5 I've found working with thousands of entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs and those who THINK they want to be an entrepreneur

1. Don't have a good idea - simple phrase, but it does mean you match your interest/passion with your strength/skills and a commercially viable desire in the market. Most get this step wrong out of ignorance or by mis-alignment (Ex choosing a market or idea because it worked for someone else, but having no interest or particular skill in that area)

2. Don't have a big ENOUGH Why? Earning a few hundred bucks from home has never been a motivation or purpose that has driven any successful entrepreneur I have known but has been the motivation for many for whom starting a business is a passing fad

3. Listening and empathy for your market. Those who listen, understand and have empathy for their market and their desires possesses the golden key to building a high-growth business - period

4. Takes action...in the face of doubt, fear, uncertainty, with a lack of total clarity STILL relents and takes action having faith in themselves and the process that they will eventually figure it out along the way

5. Knows how to scale - build a team, find and manage good people, build a strong team, etc...

If there is anything missing from this list it would be applying what I call impatient patience...what I mean is that you are driven to start and take action based on impatience (you don't wait) and yet at the same time your mindset is that it will take time, there will be setbacks, you will learn as you go and that takes tremendous patience. Impatiently patient...not many people have or can learn this...but it is critical to anyone who builds a strong, growing and viable business.

Simple answer is if your not succeeding with your online business, your probably not working hard enough. Stop checking all the stuff that means nothing until after your successful, and get to work. Selling your self is not a requirement online, learning how to rank your site for the correct keywords is. You can make good money with just advertising and never making a name for yourself.


If making a name for yourself is a requirement your probably trying to sell to a targeted community.

I think there are many obstacles that prevent people from succeeding. I think the main one is that they don't want it bad enough. This really applies to anything you want to achieve in life. For example when I finally quit smoking after many attempts, it was because I had a really strong "why". I told myself, no matter what, I was NEVER going to smoke again and I didn't. The main obstacle is not having a strong enough "why" and the determination and discipline to keep going and never quit.