Traps are unexpected pitfalls that set you back, keep you from moving forward, takes you off course and if at all possible, to be avoided.

I do not consider lack of a website, no email campaign, not using an autoresponder system or not having a Facebook page to be traps. They are all highly promoted marketing techniques that most people do follow.

It is said that “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do”. Your goal may be to make a lot of money at the end of the road, but this leaves out the process of getting there. The actual goal should be to accumulate a lot of money as you go down the road. In this way, you will be cognizant of your steps, making sure your direction is on course and be wary of roadblocks and obstacles that can throw you of course.

Trap #1 — Not having your own business plan.

People can make the mistake while developing their online weight loss business by following someone else’s plan. This is typically done by purchasing one of the many “businesses-in-a-box” programs sold on the internet. Internet marketers know people want it fast, cheap and easy, don’t want to have to work hard, are impatient, want instant rewards and are often gullible in that they fall for the incredible claims made by these marketers.

I’m not saying don’t buy one of these programs, I am saying, know what you are going after before you buy one and then only use it as a tool to get you down the road. People get so wrapped up in the process of choosing the hottest niche, the “super-article submitter” software or falling for every pitch that shows up in their inbox and get totally distracted, and never achieve any progress along their own path

Trap #2 – Not Educating Yourself

As you proceed from the beginning steps of building your online weight loss business, you will discover many marketing techniques and strategies that are essential to utilize and understand.

An effective networker must take advantage of the various tools that are needed to market themselves on the internet as well as offline. Proper methods of content marketing require basic written and verbal communication skills. Writing articles for search engine optimization is a learned skill, far beyond putting your thought on paper. Creating a video requires techniques of verbal communication and involves body language, self confidence and video production skills. Even experts continue to learn more and more about what they consider to be their forte.

Trap #3 Not taking action

My mentor always repeated these words of wisdom: “You don’t have to get it right; you just have to get it going”. She in turn heard it from her mentor.

There are certain personalities that tend to procrastinate, putting things off until things are “just right”. I fell into this trap when I created my first website. I put off marketing and list building and driving traffic because I didn’t feel the website was worthy to be shown to the masses. I was afraid that I would be labeled as a “rookie” or less than I wanted to be seen.

The problem is, a website will never be perfect, it’s an evolving work in progress. The other problem with this thinking is putting off marketing of your weight loss business can really hurt you because of the lag time involved in catching momentum and building synergy with all your various efforts.

Trap #4 Not taking risks

The root of procrastination contains elements of fear. I feared people would think my website looked unfinished, amateurish or just plain lousy. I did not want to risk these perceptions, so I did not publish the site until my fear of acceptance was gone.

Fear, doubt and hesitation can kill your weight loss business before it even has a chance to prove itself to be a winner. The business is a reflection of you. You can build a beautiful website that is very dazzling, very user friendly and may even win an award for best website design, but if you’re in the online weight loss business and rely on website traffic to build your business and nobody visits your site or knows of its existence, it is all because of you and your resistance. Giving into certain doubts, fears and hesitations will cause its demise.

Take away tip: Do as the brand Nike says and “Just Do It”.

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Filed under: Internet Marketing

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