Internet Marketing For Beginners…

3 Things Before You Begin...

Where to begin… where to begin?

I’m certain that the answer to that question is different for each person who is interested in using the internet to market an existing business or book, product, or service… or for those of you who are looking to break free of your job or make some extra money online as absolute entrepreneurial beginner.

Answering the question will go a lot smoother though, if you understand some of the basics of Internet Marketing.

Here are a few things for you to consider in order to increase your chances of succeeding online…

• “The Internet is a MEDIA, NOT a business.”

  The internet is possibly the greatest entrepreneurial tool ever conceived or created. However, it is just a tool to promote your OFFER, it is NOT the offer itself.

  It’s called “Internet MARKETING“ for a reason, after all.

  If you are going to succeed online, you need to come to the table with something to offer. It doesn’t have to be your-own offer (you could do affiliate marketing or CPA marketing or something like that) but still, you need to have something to OFFER.

  Do you have ideas? There is your offer.
  
  Have you written a book? Offer that online.

  Do you have a business or service you can promote? The internet is your magic marketing wand to reaching your goals.

  Are you are super salesperson? The internet just made your job a whole lot easier to get wealthy at doing, if you use it correctly.

  Even if you are not sure what you have to offer yet… just knowing that you need an offer will help you get started on the right mind-set and path to using the internet to make money or share your ideas and products with the world more profitably and along a straighter line.
  
  Remember though, the internet is just a media… no different than a newspaper or TV or the radio or a magazine… in that it’s just a way for you to get the word out to the world about what it is you have to OFFER.

• It isn’t “Set it and Forget it…” Until you SET IT UP.

  This one is really sad to me.

  I see it everyday, good, honest, hard working people buying into the dream of internet wealth and a “4 Hour Workweek” with all of their money and resources – just to discover that it is going to take work.

  Or, worse yet… jumping from one product to another to another hoping to avoid the work by finding the one magic formula to mix together and “Phoof!” money into their bank accounts.

  It’s really, truly sad for me to see, largely because I too was thinking about the internet in the wrong way at first – and I should have known better!

  Save yourself a lot of grief and time and know this:

  ” The internet is a media and you need to have something to offer for it to work. Also, you need to work at getting your offer put together in a way that you can make money. It isn’t going to happen by magic, it will take real effort on your part.”

  The good news is, the effort doesn’t have to be painful or slow or expensive. But we’ll talk more about this in another article.

• Salesletters are made to SELL you something!

  Okay, I’m a professional copywriter and maybe I shouldn’t tell you this… but here is the fact: Salesletters are supposed to sell you the dream and the results, it’s your job to put the product or service together and make it work.

  Imagine going to a salesletter that says:

  “Work your ass off… do your graphics, write your salesletter, create your own product, pay thousands of dollars for traffic to your website, pay for an autoresponder program, write many, many follow up emails and articles, do teleseminars, connect your shopping cart, get your domain and hosting, pay for me to coach you… blah, blah, blah… and THEN you will make some money online!… maybe. Click Here to BUY NOW!”

  My bet is on your running, not walking, but RUNNING the other direction as fast as you can, agreed?

  So, salesletters sell you the dream… the end result… and so do many of the products that promise you internet riches sold today with salesletters.

  Don’t let that discourage you… just look deeper into the program, service or product that you are considering spending your hard earned money on before you buy it. Think about what is NOT being said in the salesletter, deal?

  It’s your job to unpack the product or read the book or watch the videos and apply the valuable information inside. And I’m here to tell you that after writing hundreds of salesletters, every product, program, or service requires you to do something once you get it. It’s just implied in the copy… but it’s a fact when you get the package.

  So be frugal and read between the lines.

• Find a Coach or Mentor that you can trust and that you “mesh” with.

  Want to become a successful internet marketer? Great… find someone to guide you and help you put all of the many puzzle pieces together. Preferably someone who knows the puzzle intimately and who has put it together and taken it apart many times herself.

  I have had my share of bad coaches that have cost me thousands and thousands of dollars. So be selective in who you decide to work with and make sure that you understand what is and is not offered. Not all coaches and mentors are created equal.

These should get you started on the right foot…

• Understanding that the internet is not really a business in and of itself, but is a media to promote your business, service, program or product.

• Knowing that ALL business require effort on your part.. and learning and trial and error… and investment, etc. to succeed. Even online businesses.

• Realizing that you will reach success a lot faster if you get help… find a coach or mentor that you trust and who will help you stay focused and you will increase your chances of reaching your goals a lot faster.

Let me know if you agree… disagree… or have some value to add to the above by adding your $.02 below.

“Dedicated to your success, as always,… and busting my butt to prove it!”