Too many people come to IM as a quick-fix money-maker, thinking they can bypass all the usual work, inspiration and thinking that's involved with starting a new business.
I think part of the problem is how easy and cheap it's perceived to be to start.
My last bricks & mortar business cost me around 1/3 million in capital investment. Did I spend some time looking, asking questions, researching, analysing, talking to the right people about EVERY angle? You BET I did!
But when you can start a 'business' with 99c for a .info domain, $5 per month in hosting ( with no commitment or contracts!), and do it in your 'spare' time, how much effort are you truly going to commit?
The truly successful ones start on the basis that they're just spending money to gain experience and learn at the start. It took me 3 years to break the 6-figure per year mark. 3 years: not the few months that people seem to expect.
Build volume and experience when you start. I talk to guys who've been 'trying' for 'a year' to make money online. And I dig a bit and they've put in 5-10 hours per week if they're ambitious, and they have 6 sites with 30 pages each. That's a year's work !?!?! Get real!
Stop expecting your first sites to make money; they usually won't!
You only learn by experience. The more you do, the more mistakes you make, the better you get, the more money you make. Memorise that and paint it on your wall!
J