Life teaches us many lessons as we grow, some we can look back on fondly like learning to ride a bike and some we wish we could forget ever happened, like that time your best friend pantsed you at the local mall in front of all those people. As we grow up it is important that we pick up and retain things from the lessons that life teaches us, like the fact that riding a bike is something you never forget how to do, wearing a belt does actually serve a purpose above just being fashionable and so on.

I remember all through my life growing up hearing my elders saying “you only get one chance to make a first impression” and that is so completely true, no matter how hard you try to overcome a bad first impression you can never totally take that back or recover completely from the damage it has done. This is important no matter where you are or what you are doing, forgetting this rule will only hold you back and keep you from achieving your full potential.

I am going to outline a few things that I have seen lately online that you should avoid at all costs if you want to be successful in your online endeavours, keep in mind that these are only a few examples and you should use common sense to fill in the blanks. So, without further ado here is the top 5 list:

1. Remember that anything you say online stays there forever, being 16 and trashing your ex girlfriend online will make you look like an idiot 10 years down the road.
2. The crowd you associate with determines what the world thinks of you, no matter how great of a person you are, associating yourself with scammers or trashy individuals makes you one of them.
3. You don’t leave the house half dressed in the morning, so don’t leave your websites half finished and expect anyone to buy whatever you are selling. I see this all too often, some great “guru” online selling an expensive membership to some site or training program and they haven’t even taken the time to incorporate their amember installation or affiliate programs templates to match their site. This just shows me that they don’t care about the little details and will likely carry that into their product, system or training program so I click the red X instantly.
4. Always remember that word of mouth advertising is the best advertising you can get, but it can also be the worst if those who deal with you aren’t happy with the results or how you conduct yourself. Being a true professional should be something you practice in all areas of your life, people can see through a phony.
5. If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always gotten. This rule applies to everything, you can’t keep making the same mistakes or doing the same thing day in and day out and get upset or blame anyone else when you always get the same results or outcome. You control your own destiny, its time to stop making excuses and start driving yourself to succeed because if you don’t nobody else will do it for you.

Being real and following all those rules that Mom taught us works just as well now that we are adults as it did when we were kids, don’t play in traffic, don’t chew with your mouth open, be nice to your family members and yes, you do only get one chance to make a first impression so make it count.