“The truth is, most people don’t fail in IM because they’re not smart enough—they fail because they’re alone.”
I’ve come to believe that internet marketing has less to do with strategy and more to do with psychology. Not the psychology of persuasion, like you read about in copywriting books, but the psychology of waking up every day to a screen, an inbox that feels too quiet, and the lingering question: Is this even working?
Most people don’t fail in IM because they’re not smart enough. They fail because they’re alone.
And I don’t mean “alone” like physically sitting at a desk. I mean that feeling of building something in silence while the rest of the world carries on as if nothing is happening. Your friends don’t really get it. Your family nods politely when you say “I’m building something online.” But deep down, you know they don’t believe in it the way you’re trying to.
That kind of isolation eats at you.
Smart Enough Isn’t the Problem
If I’ve learned anything, it’s this: the people who dive into IM aren’t short on intelligence. They can figure out autoresponders, learn SEO, watch tutorials, and piece together a funnel. They can read books, buy courses, and copy-paste strategies.
The “how-to” isn’t the missing piece.
The missing piece is someone saying, “I’ve been where you are—and no, you’re not crazy for trying.”
Because on the bad days, when the campaign flops or nobody opens your emails, intelligence doesn’t keep you in the game. Encouragement does.
The Silent Struggle Nobody Talks About
I remember the early days. I’d spend hours tweaking a headline, re-writing a welcome sequence, or figuring out why a pixel wasn’t firing. And when I finally hit publish, the silence was louder than any mistake.
No sales.
No replies.
No validation that I wasn’t just playing pretend entrepreneur.
And when you’re in that silence long enough, it’s easy to start whispering to yourself: Maybe I’m just not cut out for this.
But here’s what I wish someone told me earlier: that whisper has nothing to do with your ability and everything to do with your environment. People don’t give up because they can’t figure it out. They give up because they’re tired of figuring it out alone.
The Weight of Hidden Doubt
I’ve met people who are brilliant—smarter than me, more creative, even more disciplined. And yet, they quit. Not because they lacked talent, but because they couldn’t carry the doubt alone anymore.
IM isn’t just about writing copy or setting up ads. It’s about holding up your belief long enough for the results to finally show up. That belief is heavy. And if you’re carrying it in isolation, it’s almost impossible to not eventually set it down.
Why Community Quietly Wins
There’s a reason people light up when they find “their people” in this space.
It’s not because suddenly the strategies change. It’s because they finally have someone who nods when they say, “Facebook rejected my ad again.” Or someone who celebrates when they get their first $7 sale, even if outsiders roll their eyes.
A small circle of people who get it can make the difference between burning out and breaking through.
When you’re not alone, you don’t need to be constantly reassured that you’re smart enough. You just need someone to remind you that progress—even slow progress—counts.
The Real Reason I’m Still Here
If I’m honest, I would’ve quit years ago if I had stayed in isolation. The failures were too sharp, the learning curve too steep, and the silence too heavy.
What kept me here wasn’t some secret hack. It was finding others who said, “Yeah, I’ve been through that too.”
It was realizing that doubt isn’t proof of failure—it’s just a phase you pass through when you’re building something invisible before it becomes real.
If You’re Reading This Alone
Maybe that’s you right now. Sitting at your desk, wondering if you’re wasting your time. Watching others post income screenshots while you’re quietly trying to convince yourself not to give up.
If that’s you, I want you to hear this clearly:
You’re not failing because you’re not smart enough.
You’re not failing because you’re not capable.
You’re struggling because this is heavy to carry alone.
And that’s not a flaw. That’s just human.
Progress Over Isolation
Internet marketing works. Not perfectly, not predictably, and not as fast as the headlines promise—but it works. The danger isn’t in your ability to figure it out. The danger is in the quiet loneliness that makes you put it down too early.
So if you take nothing else from this, take this: you don’t need another “secret formula” as much as you need people who will remind you you’re not crazy for believing in this.
Because the truth is, the smarter you are, the more dangerous isolation becomes. You’ll rationalize yourself right out of the game.
Stay in it long enough, with the right people around you, and you’ll start to see what I mean.