The Top 5 Newbie Mistakes - What Are They?

[Lee]

If you had to list 5 mistakes that newer webmasters constantly make, what would you say they were?

For me i would have to go with...

1) Launching a paysite to soon.
2) Not trying their hand at different types of sites (most just TGP).
3) Not focusing their niches.
4) Not listening when they are given solid advice.
5) Thinking they dont have to invest much time/money.

So what would you say the top 5 mistakes newbie webmasters make are?

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

your list seems to cover it pretty well. one other thing i might add is that newbs tend to work at one thing - say galleries - briefly and then when they don't make instant money, they move to something else. i know a couple newbs on another board that are the epitome of this. each started a tgp first - against the advice of everyone they asked. when the tgps made no money, they tried blogs or gallery posting or free sites or link dumps. they never took any time to learn a thing about marketing, then jumped to paysites even though neither of them could market. i'll let you guess the quality of those two paysites

[Jasun]

Believing their own hype.

Marketing is just to get attention, you still need a solid site worth visiting.

[Chilihost]

being too arrogant and immature to realise that they don't know it all. Hell, I have been in this biz for ages and I still don't know anywhere near 1/2 of it all :specs:

[Lee]

Believing their own hype.

Id say this wasnt just a newbie mistake myself, ive seen loads of webmasters over the years get some perceived power and let it go straight to their heads and they change almost overnight.

Its scary to see sometimes.

Regards,

Lee

[chadknowslaw]

I would add :

Not treating it like a business
You cannot just party all the time and expect to pay the bills!

Expecting a new business to make money right away so they quit real jobs or don't look for real work
At least 6 months to break even point, usually more. At least a year until you can survive without outside income

Thinking that their idea is going to turn the porn world on its ear.
Honey, you may be cute but you ain't that bright. You ain't got nothin' that someone else hasn't already tried

[IdolKnights]

(Answers based on forum communities)

Research

I see little in way of research past asking a few questions on a forum and running with the answers. Not just newbies but also webmasters looking into a new function, feature or process. The forum should be your hub for direction and not the end-all, be-all on the topic.

Alliance

A lot of newer people join up and are quickly welcomed to the community. After the initial welcomes, there is a slowdown to their "popularity" (people don't answer their every post)

Once this becomes an issue, people tend to fall into circles where they can take conversations off the forum and onto ICQ/AIM/Other and build a relationship. Though this helps, a lot of the time, The people with time on their hands ends up being the not so savory members of the community.

Going back to Research... Without it, before you have any idea of whats going on, you find yourself defending your "friends" and looking like another unsavory character.