Things that don’t work” part III: “Dabbling”

This topic of “dabbling” is an offshoot or symptom of a person’s “lack of focus” – which was the subject of my previous blog. That said – I may be repeating some of my thoughts from that blog.
While the intended audience for this post is geared towards the beginner in internet marketing – I hope it is of use to those who have been through the ringer, paid their dues and are now reaping the benefits of their work. My hope for anyone who reads this is that they become “reapers” – if they are not already.
I am going to define “dabbling” as it relates to internet marketing as this: “the act of trying out new and different programs without applying focused effort and strategy”. I have been guilty of this – as have many others – when looking for the right opportunities to make money from internet and/or network marketing. I think “dabbling” is normally the behavior of the gullible and naïve who believe the hype of “deposits of hundreds of dollars in just days”. Dabblers are usually looking for the quick dollar. The sad truth is that the “dabbler” never finds the quick dollar – and never sticks around to see the “dollar-down-the-road”
If you are a “dabbler” (there is still hope for you…) then it is likely that you have tried several programs and not seen much success from any of them. It is also likely that you moved from one to the next – and with each result, you began to allow negative thoughts seep in. After 5 or 6 of these iterations of failed attempts, you were ready to give up, and you caved in to the thought that internet marketing is not for you.
Believe me – I have been there. I have taken my thoughts of resignation to bed. I have allowed them to give me over to feelings of hopelessness. Have you had these questions and thoughts in your mind late at night?
1.this will never work
2.I can’t get any referrals
3.I have no traffic
4.I can’t bug my friends and family w/ this
5.This only works for a few people and I am not one of them
The good news is that all of that negativity can be overcome. How? Well the easy answer is to stop dabbling – and start doing.
I once was working with an MLM ( I will leave out the company info, because it is not important here). At first I really believed in this product/service and became a customer and an associate. (funny how those promotional videos and the weekly meetings keep you roped in at first) I had a really nice upline who stayed in contact with me and she really tried to help me. One thing that this particular business really counted on is the “warm market”. Like most of us – I hate bugging my family and friends about my business opportunities – so this was a problem for me.
They wanted me to write down a list of 10 people who I could share the biz op with. Granted, this was before I understood the power of the internet and social networking, social media, etc. Eventually, I compromised my unwillingness to use the warm market, and sent a meek and feeble email to about 5 people sharing this business opportunity. I got no response at all.
That was “dabbling”.
It got me nowhere.
Then I had the bright idea of printing some flyers and keeping them in my car so that I could distribute them when I went to the mall or supermarket, etc. I think I passed out about 20 of the 200 that I printed.
That was “dabbling”.
It got me nowhere.
I am no longer active in that program – because it wasn’t working for me, and that made me lose faith in the product to a point where I don’t really believe in it any longer. In retrospect, I failed, because I dabbled. Had I put in some extra effort in a targeted and consistent manner, I know I would have eventually succeeded. In my defense however, I think I can say that I was so new to the industry that I had no clue what I was doing.
“Dabbling” scenarios:
Take an example of someone who has a website set up as a capture page for his/her business. This person needs traffic. They need multiple eyeballs hitting that page daily. The first thing they do is to subscribe to one of the hundreds of traffic generating programs available. All of the sudden they see traffic on their website and get all excited. Later they wonder why the traffic has not converted into signups. Instead of turning up the volume and expanding to several different traffic generators, leveraging them against each other, and putting some consistent and targeted effort into it….they quit, and went on to the next thing.
The same person then decided that they would go into social networking and reap some benefits there. So they joined a couple of the hundreds of social networking sites and began adding friends and sharing their business with everyone they came into contact with. Yet they could never get anyone to join their program. (not realizing that everyone they connected with was already in a program and looking for their own prospects too) The immediate results were nowhere to be found. So they quit. This time they may have quit for good, or they may have tried yet another avenue and received the same result.
They dabbled
They got nowhere.
It would be my hope that anyone who went through this – learned from it and stopped “dabbling”. Further, that they are now practicing consistent and targeted efforts, that they are listening to people who know “what works”, and finally that they are on the road to a home business that flourishes.
People who want immediate success with little effort in internet/network marketing are naïve, misguided, or downright lazy. They are “dabblers”
Don’t dabble!