It is estimated that approximately 95% of people fail online, lose money, or never make a penny from Internet marketing….. and that’s not just some made-up statistic to get your attention. If I had a dollar for every time a ‘would-be’ marketer asked my advice about where they’re going wrong……

Internet marketing is one of the fastest-growing and profitable businesses today. It is an excellent way for anyone to start a small business with little investment, no overhead and high profit margins. Anyone can get up and running with an online business in hours. Sounds like an easy way to make money, doesn’t it? Compared to other offline small business ventures, it is.

Yet Internet marketing failures still vastly outnumber those who have succeeded in Internet marketing. For every story you hear of someone making $10,000 a month at Internet marketing there are hundreds of untold stories of those who failed to make a profit or only made a few dollars and then quit. Why do so many fail when the potential to succeed is high?

1. Failure to plan – No matter what type of business you are running you need a business plan with well-defined goals. What are your short-term and long-term goals? What steps do you need to take to meet those goals? Write out your plan and review it frequently. You are running a small business. Treat it as one.

2. Failure to work the plan – So you already have a business plan? Are you following it? A plan means nothing if you don’t follow it. Work the plan every single day. Revise it if necessary but don’t deviate from it.

3. Making goals too big early on – Many Internet marketing failures are due to trying to do too much too fast. You are not going to create the ultimate web site for dog lovers overnight. Start small with dog training tips and add content daily. Those 1,000+ page web sites took months or years to build, so will yours.

4. Lack of knowledge – Would you be a successful plumber without knowing anything about plumbing? No. Then to be a successful Internet marketer you need to learn about Internet marketing. Find a successful mentor willing to help you and you will be way ahead of the crowd.

5. Not investing in your business – You won’t get any support or very much web traffic with a free web host. Many times, the best e-books, scripts and tools are the ones that cost money. You can run an online business for next to nothing but you’ll achieve faster and more profitable results by investing in the right tools.

6. “If I build it, they will come” – You can have the most comprehensive and informative website on natural healing in the world but if you don’t promote your site and work to drive traffic to it, no one will know about it. There are many ways to drive traffic to your website. You should be using several of them.

7. Lack of patience – You will not be making $10,000 a month when you start. Internet marketing is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes time and testing to build your web traffic and increase your conversion rate. In the beginning you might actually lose money and this is when too many people give up without giving their business time to grow.

8. Wrong niche – So you wrote that e-book on underwater basket weaving and you’re wondering why nobody is buying it? Find a niche but make sure it’s profitable first. Too many times people create the product first then try to figure out how to sell it. Find out what the people want then give or sell it to them.

9. No Uniqueness – There are a million low-carb diet books out there, what makes yours so unique? Why should I buy your widget when Bob’s widgets are just as good and he’s been selling widgets a lot longer than you? Stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Know your competition and do what they do better or do something totally different.

10. Lack of commitment – To be successful, you must be committed to success. Behind every success story there are many hours of work and dedication. You’ll need drive and determination if you want to be the next internet success story everyone is talking about.

Print out these ten reasons for failure and post it next to your computer monitor or tape them to your bathroom mirror.

Everyday review your online business and make sure you are not making any of these mistakes. Do this and you are well on your way to being an Internet marketing success.