Top 10 Reasons Why You Are NOT Making Money Online in 2014!

Whether you’re a newbie to making money online or you’ve been trying for a while and just can’t crack the code, my list of the top 10 reasons why are NOT making money online in 2014 may be able to shed some light on your problem.

I’ve been running an online business for 10 years now and one thing I can tell you for sure about this business is things are constantly and rapidly changing online.  Sometimes it seems like I  master one technique or software and then a better one comes out.  What worked last year, isn’t working now.  Things are constantly evolving online and in order to make money online, you have to evolve with the changes.

When I worked as a paralegal for 17 years, one of the reference books that I used a lot was the Annotated Code of Maryland, which was a large volume of books (like an Encyclopedia set) that contained the laws for the State of Maryland.  At one of the law firms I worked for, I was in charge of updating the books at least once a year with the “supplement” that came out when the laws changed.  Of course, things are digital now, but back then I had to go into our law library and pull out all the books and put in the supplemental pages which were inserted in the back of the books!  It was a lot of work and then when we were researching cases, we had to make sure to reference the supplemental pages to see if anything changed!

What I’m saying is, regardless of what industry you’re in, things are always changing and what’s important when it comes to making money online is to keep up with these changes.  So below are my…

TOP 10 REASONS WHY YOU ARE “NOT” MAKING MONEY ONLINE IN 2014:

1. You Don’t Have a Mentor or Coach!  There are hundreds if not thousands of programs online about “how to make money online”.  Some of these are quality programs, but many of them are old, outdated, information products which you have to purchase (sometimes for hundreds or thousands of dollars) and then figure it ALL out for yourself.  Just purchasing an eBook or even an online course about how to make money online without Personal Coaching or Mentoring puts you at a disadvantage because when you’re learning any new material, you will always have questions and need guidance.  I’ve heard so many complaints from people who tell me that they paid big money for online programs (often from BIG names) and then they couldn’t get any help or assistance from the person selling them the program!  In my opinion, if you truly want to be successful you need a Mentor or Coach that you can work with personally!  Somebody who is accessible that you can communicate with while you’re going through the program.  I promise you it will shorten your learning curve, increase your chances at success, and put you on the road to actually making money online!  Spending the extra money to work with a Mentor or Coach will give you a high ROI (Return on your Investment!)
2. The Program You Purchased is Outdated!  I see this all the time online — people purchase a program and follow it, however, the content hasn’t been updated in years…so they are learning old information.  You know when you purchase a laptop or computer and once it’s a couple years old, people say it’s “outdated”?  As I said earlier, one thing is certain online, things chang constantly and rapidly.  So my advice to you is to only sign up for a program that is promoted as “updated” information.  One of my “USP’s” (Unique Selling Proposition’s) is that I update all of my online courses annually!  When you are committed to service to others through providing a quality product, then you naturally deliver updated information for your clients.  When creating your own information products and programs, make sure that you too offer “updated annually” programs.
3. You Don’t Have a Professional Website!  Honestly, if you want to be taken seriously then you absolutely need a website! (I recommend using wordpress.org).  It amazes me sometimes when people tell me they’ve taken all these programs on “how to make money online” and when I ask to see their website, they tell me they don’t have one.  The #1 step you should take if you are serious about making money online is to have a professional website created for you!  Even if you don’t know what programs or products you’ll be selling, you can start with a website based on your name (www.yourname.com) and then build it from there.  And please, if you want to be a professional, then don’t try to do this yourself unless you have a lot of technology and writing skills!  A great website is the foundation for making money online!  I  offer a “Heart Centered Website Package” that will get your started to making money online.
4. You’re NOT Blogging!  If you want to make money online, then you need to put out quality content about your topic in order to be seen as an expert and also to drive traffic to your site.  Google rewards sites with fresh content by sending them traffic, and does not like “stagnant” websites.  Think of some of the bigger names in the Internet Marketing space and most of them will have a blog on their website.  Even if you’re not a writer, you can outsource the writing for your blog.  When I ask students how they found my site, the majority of time they tell me they read a blog post I wrote!  Also, why would people come back to visit your site?  People come back when you have new blog posts for them to read!  Don’t underestimate the power of blogging!
5. You Don’t Understand the Value of Keyword Research!  This is a biggie of why people are NOT successful online.  I teach several different online courses and in all of them I teach “keyword research”; whether we are talking about keyword research for your website, your blog posts, or your book on Amazon, it’s critical that you know the keywords people are searching for on Google!  There are 2 ways to get this information.  You can use the FREE Google Keyword Planner (you must have an active account to use) or you can use a paid program (there are many out there).  I use Google’s keyword planner to do my Keyword Research.  Everything I do, starts with keyword research!
6. You’re NOT Blogging Strategically!  I have several clients who write blog posts based on whatever they feel like writing about that day.  While it’s good that they are blogging and putting out content, it’s not good that they aren’t writing blog posts that contain keywords that people are searching for!  I write blog posts 2-4 times per month and I research the keywords about the “topic” I want to write about before I write the blog post and then I angle the article with the keywords in it.  It helps me get traffic and it helps my reader find the information they were searching for on Google!  So my advice to you if you’re not making money online is to start blogging strategically!
7. You Aren’t Building a List!  The biggest mistake I made when I started out was not having an Opt-In Form on my website to capture names and email addresses.  Let’s just say, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, but when I knew better…then I did better.  I receive new subscribers to my email list almost daily because they come to my site and sign up for my FREE ebook “The Lazy Woman’s Guide to a 6-Figure Income” which is on my home page, on the right side bar.  You absolutely must offer a quality FREE gift to your visitors and start building a list.  Having a list of people interested in your topic is key to making money online!  It’s also how you develop a relationship with these people and start building trust.  I use and recommend Aweber to build your list!
8. You’re a One-Hit Wonder!  If you are really in this for the long haul, then you need to constantly be creating new programs and products for your niche’.  What typically happens with beginners is that they create a product, market that product, sell that product and then repeat.  This is good to start out with, but in order to make money online long term, you need to create new programs and products that appeal to different types of people at different skill levels (THINK:  Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).  What if I only offered one online course or program on my site?  That wouldn’t be very good, because people are at all different places on the learning curve when it comes to making money online; therefore, I create programs for a variety of people.  You should do the same as well!
9. You only have one or two Price Points!  When you start out, of course, you only have one or two price points, because you are a newbie.  But as time goes on and you hopefully become the expert in your niche’, then you start adding higher priced programs.  I recommend you have price points from $20 to $2,000 and higher!  If you don’t, then you’re leaving money on the table.  For 10 years I did outside sales for a hot tub company.  I sold $5000-$35,000 hot tubs and swim spas in a one call close environment, in home.  And what I learned from that experience was that the average person spent about $12,000 on a hot tub (at the time I was doing outside sales), but there were a smaller percentage that wanted the most expensive products we had to offer!  I wrote up deals that were $35,000-$40,000 and on one sale I made $5,200+ in commissions!  But what if the company I worked for only had one or two price points?  I wouldn’t have made much money!  The next time you go into Starbucks I want you to notice their Espresso Machine display where they sell an espresso machine for anywhere from $275 to $2600!  Of course, the majority of customers don’t purchase these machines, but guess what?  A few do and they make big money on those big sales!  Remember the line from the movie “A Field of Dreams”:  If you build it, they will come.  Start building higher price points into your offerings!
10. You Don’t Know How to Delegate!  It’s an easy trap to get into — you try and wear multiple hats when it comes to running your online business, however, if you truly want to leverage your time, then you are going to have to learn the art of outsourcing and delegating.  You should spend the majority of time doing what you are good at and using your gifts and talents.  Outsource the rest…things like website design, aweber, blogging, shopping cart programs, graphics, etc.  You should have a virtual assistant, a graphics designer and of course a great website designer.  You can also get lots of low cost services for you online business on www.fiverr.com — it’s one of my favorite resources!

I hope that this list of the top 10 reasons why you are NOT making money online has helped you.  If you take one tip and implement that, then this could exponentially change and transform your online business.

If you don’t have a copy of my FREE, ebook, “The Top 10 Ways to Make Money Online“, then click here and scroll down the page to get your FREE copy!