When I started my online business from home it was both exciting and daunting at the same time. I knew that the internet was the place to start a business because of the billions that are being spent online every year. After all, a potential customer can only look at one website at a time and that website could easily be mine, right?

So I jumped into starting my online business without any real thought and soon realized that I had made some mistakes that held back my progress and results.

1. Learning Without Action

I knew that I would need some guidance and training to start an online business from home. But I became overwhelmed with all the “how to” videos, reports and courses available. These things, while a great help, aren’t any good if you’re not going to follow the directions and do what they say. Now I put the things I learn into action before moving on and learning something else.

2. Not Staying Focused

New online home business opportunities can sit like beckoning lights on the horizon that are hard to ignore. They call it “shiny object syndrome.” I would see something new, like the idea of making money with it, and then invest time and money into it, leaving my current business to one side. But you won’t succeed when you constantly buy into new online business opportunities and don’t actually take the steps of using them. Once you decide on something, stay laser focused on your core business before you start looking at other options.

3. Not Using Automation

Time and money are limited when you run an online business from home. At first I tried to everything myself. But I learned that investment in software that automates tasks for me was money well spent. There are many software programs that will automate tasks for you. This includes email marketing, blog posting and social media posts.

4. Chasing Perfection

No one is ever perfect. And I was trying be perfect in everything I did. If I made a mistake I would hang my head in shame for days, thinking that I would never recover. But I did. And I started to see any mistakes I made as a learning process. Always remember that something is better than nothing, and online everything can be improved later.

5. Not Building An Email List Of Prospects

This was probably my biggest mistake of all. Make sure that you’re building an email list of prospects from day one. Every email list starts with one prospect. When somebody arrives at your website for the first time, they may leave and never to return. So, if you can obtain their email address, you can then remain in contact with them via email. Email marketing is still considered the most effective online marketing method.