In this post I want to talk about a common pitfall that many aspiring Internet marketers fall in to.
You have probably heard of the 80/20 rule in business? This is where 80% of your time and problems are caused by 20% of your customers. Any business owner who deals with customer service can attest to this.

Well, in internet marketing we have something called the 90/10 rule of working online.
This can either be a good rule to live by or a problem that causes you to get very little done. What the 90/10 rule refers to when it’s a problem, is spending 90% of your time searching, learning, reading, and browsing blogs, and only 10% of your time actually doing things that will make you money online.

What you need to do is switch this around so you are spending 90% of your time working on your online business tasks and only 10% on learning or studying new things. As easy as this sounds it is really hard to do.

 So what happens?

The first problem is online distractions.
There is so much useless online information in the form of BS hype, testimonials, sales pitches, fake reviews, and fake income reports running around the internet that it is easy to get sucked in to hours of reading conflicting nonsense. After spending countless hours, days, weeks online with nothing to show for it you begin to convince yourself you must be doing something wrong.

You then spend countless more hours reading post after post about this trick, or that trick or some new ground breaking system that really really works. Now you have too much information in your head so once again you proceed to do NOTHING. It’s a vicious circle.

The second problem is lack of results.
In internet marketing results always seem to start off slow. This causes people to get antsy and start jumping around.

 It goes sometihng like this:

You read a tutorial on a blog or buy a system that promises a shortcut to profits. Now you’re side tracked again and wasting more time studying & learning another new method. When you don’t get the results you were looking for after a few weeks its back to searching, reading, learning, studying, browsing and so on. Another circle. Results take time, be patient.

It’s very common for a newbie entering the world of making money online to feel a little confused like they don’t know what to do, or where to start. This is OK. At first your 90/10 may be a little off when you start. What is most important, is that when you decide what method of online income you want to pursue and create, you must focus your attention on it and use the 90/10 rule.

If you follow the 90/10 rule the way you are suppose too, you will be amazed at how much you can actually accomplish. Try it for a week and see for yourself. Here are some key points to keep you on track.

•  Think KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid). Don’t make things too complicated. Some of the most successful internet marketers have very plain websites that focus on 1 concept.
• Track your time. Set daily goals of how many hours you will work online and then force yourself to work on productive tasks 90% and on learning only 10%.
• Figure out when you are the most productive. I found that I get twice as much done when I work at night after 10pm when everyone else in the house is sleeping.
• Shut down major online distractions. When it is work time, shut down Facebook, Skype, Instant messenger and any other software that will shake your focus.
• Stop checking your Analytics. This may not be a problem for you, but when I starting getting traffic to my site I developed a habit of checking my Analytics every hour. Resist!
• Create a comfortable working space. Setup a designated space where everything you need is available and your seating is comfortable. I work out of a hammock on my terrace with a notebook computer, it’s unorthodox but works for me.
• Use time saving software and back everything up. Nothing wastes more time then losing your files or a document you spent hours working on. My favorite 3 free software’s that I use everyday are:

1. Dropbox – for saving everything in the cloud
2. Evernote – for keeping an ongoing to-do list, blog idea list, and cheat sheet all in the cloud
3. lastpass – for saving all my user logins and passwords. Once you start using auto login you will never go back

The greatest thing about these 3 applications is I can pick up from anywhere and from any computer as long as I have internet access.

 Now I have a confession to make. I originally wrote this to remind myself how I should be using my time. Wasting unnecessary time online is one of my biggest problems. I felt that if I wrote a blog post it would help me internalize and plant it into my sub-conscious. I wanted to share this because I think a lot of people are not even aware of how they spend their time online. Now you know and knowing is half the battle.

If you have any good tips to add the 90/10 rule please let me know in the comments below or stop by our forum and voice it. Good luck!