So, I was sitting at my computer one day, about 6 months or so into building my internet business. Like a good boy I was doing my backlinking, my SEO tasks, and uploading another website. I think it was my 17th or 18th site. I was excited because I had just bought this site and thought it was a great niche and it would draw attention and make me money. I had it going on! I had sites on dog training, bed wetting, dieting, muscle building, ADHD, irritable bowel syndrome and on and on…

I was just finishing putting my affiliate links in the Clickbank products and then it hit me – why? Why did I think the new site would draw attention and make me money? Because, at that moment (I think it might have been the first time I actually stopped and thought for a minute) I realized none of the other 17 had made me any money! So why would I think this one would? I also realized that I thought the same thing about #16, #15, #14, and so on… You get the idea.

As if that wasn’t depressing enough, it also dawned on me that I hadn’t done any of my SEO stuff on the first 10 sites in a month. They were now stagnating because I was too busy moving on to the next great thing. So, needless to say, I wasn’t having a good night!

Now, I’m a very motivated person when I decide I want something. I also, I’m (a little) embarrassed to say, have a very well developed ego that will not allow me to be a quitter when I tackle a task. I have been a businessperson for over 25 years and have always been, more or less, successful at anything I put my mind to and Internet Marketing should be no different. So why is this not making money?

When I stepped back and honestly evaluated what I had been doing I quickly realized that I was not putting all that business experience to work! I was so wrapped up in the cool stuff and dreams of yachts and airplanes that I completely put aside experience, reason and purpose.

I was suffering from an all too common internet marketing disease…
INFORMATION OVERLOAD!

I mistook activity for productivity!

Just because you’re doing something doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing. I was way more interested in going through my 150 email each day and clicking on every WSO and “Traffic Sucking”, “Auto-Pilot”, “Sky-Rocketing”, “Ninja” offer I was getting. I never took the time to sit down and apply the basic business principles and practices to my internet business that I always applied to my other endeavors. I never asked myself if I NEEDED that product. It just sounded cool and the seller was always making a fortune from it so I bought it! My hard drive, and I bet yours, is full of that stuff! (mostly unopened). Something had to change.

So I decided, in essence, to start over. Start from scratch again. To sit down and map out a plan. I would put together, dare I say it, a business plan! I would go through everything I had to see, first, if it had actual value to MY business and, if so, how did it fit in to what I was doing.

But the main thing I wanted to do is to outline the mental equipment needed. It’s something most internet marketers don’t do and, I think, why they fail! I wanted to find out how the successful internet marketers approached their business mentally.

I did a lot of research and talking to different people and here’s what I came up with, I call it “Walking The Mental Minefield Of Internet Marketing” and I think it is every bit as important, if not more so, than having the actual technical skills.

I found that successful Internet Marketer, like many entrepreneurs, are very unique people with some specific mind set and qualities that help them succeed.

Many people start their own Internet Marketer marketing business
but most fail because they do not possess these basic traits:

1. Determination- Be determined to succeed, with a strong resolve to do what it takes. Don’t be easily discouraged and let a setback stop you from achieving your goals.

2. Self-Motivation – Be self-motivated. Get out of bed and get to work even when there is no boss waiting at “the office” for you to arrive. Work the same hours at the same time as if this were a regular job.

3. Focus – Avoid the “Shiny Object Syndrome”. You will hear that phrase a lot. It is generally used by people in a negative light to disparage the products “Gurus” are selling them, insinuating that the product is junk. I’m not one of those people. I think it’s called “Shiny” probably because it has some good information. But, just because it has good information, doesn’t mean that you need it for your business! Check out a product before you buy it to see if it is appropriate for your business right now. For example, stop buying “offline” products if you have no intention of being an offline marketer. They will probably sit on your hard drive forever and never be opened.

4. Organization – Get organized. Complete one project before starting another one. As an Internet Marketer working from home, it can be hard to stay on course. There are so many distractions and no one to make you stay on task. Set a schedule of tasks and push yourself to stay on that schedule as much as possible. Also, set your goals and targets and work towards them without allowing any distractions.

5. Think outside the box – Think about different ways of handing any problem or situation, and also how to make yourself better and more successful in your niche.

6. Don’t think you know it all! – This may be the most important trait. Successful Internet Marketer markers have a high willingness to continually learn and be trained so that they can succeed in their business. Internet marketing is dynamic and there are many tips and tricks to learn in order to succeed. Successful Internet Marketer marketers are people who constantly look for any information that they can use to build their business.

I dropped almost all of my sites and started concentrating on just a few things and now I’m making my living online! It’s not as hard as you think. It just takes focus. You too can become a successful Internet Marketer by following and adopting these basic principles.

To your success as an Internet Marketer!

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This post was contributed by guest author Cliff Hildreth as part of a bonus for a product that he purchased through our affiliate link.

Cliff is an entrepreneur with a passion for teaching. He is an internet marketer and coach. Cliff loves helping others succeed. He has created a complete system to help you build and manage a successful internet marketing business. Go to IM Explosion and grab a copy now.