You have decided to become an internet marketer.

The lights, the glamor, the income…

Maybe you have done some research.  Maybe you have already had some success in the online marketing world.

Today’s post is a list of questions you need to ask yourself.  No matter what your experience of background, you need to ask yourself these questions.  The answers will help you to formulate your plan and strategy to achieve success.

The first group of questions will help you to understand whether you should begin your work alone or whether you should consider getting help (via hiring or outsourcing).

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Do you want to run a single-person business or a larger enterprise? Are you a leader or a follower?  I hope you all answer “leader” because if you are really a follower, starting an internet marketing business is not in your best interest.
• Can you write copy?  If you cannot and do not want to make the effort to learn, you will need to hire or outsource.
• Are you able to perform software installations and web design sufficient for the type of business you want?  Do you know html or want to learn?  If you install a lot of software on your pc and can do simple maintenance such as installing RAM or internal hard drives, you can probably perform most of the server work for your site.
• Can you maintain your confidence and enthusiasm and the proper mindset through tough times?  Initially, it is likely that times will be tough.  It will take time to build a customer base, trust from that base, and then a client-consultant/supplier relationship.
• Do you have vision?  Do you have a strategy for attaining the reality of that vision?  You need both vision and strategy in order to become successful.

The following questions are more “nuts and bolts”.  These questions will help you to determine your vision and your strategy.

• Do you want to sell consumer goods or information products?
• Do you want to distribute the consumer goods or do you want to have someone else do the distribution?  This can apply to information products, especially if you are selling them in physical form.
• Do you want to manufacture/create the product or be a reseller/affiliate only?

Finally, I have one question to give you some idea about whether you need more research before you start.

This question is:

Can you define terms such as: adwords, affiliate, autoresponder, bookmarking, double opt-in, niche, php, ping, plugin, PPC, SEO, social media, traffic, web 2.0., etc.

If you cannot define those terms, you probably need to do more research to know whether the internet marketing game is for you and what position you wish to play in that game.

To your sucess,

Tom

Okay.

You are going to stick your toe into the water.  Where do you start?

First, you should get a general idea of what is out there in the internet marketing jungle.

There is an amazing amount of FREE online marketing information on the internet. This is a good place to start.

You should use the free information for two purposes:

1. As a way of grasping the breadth, depth and width of different types of markets on the internet.
2. To learn how different “gurus” teach.  See who speaks in a way that you understand.  See who uses aids (such as whiteboards, powerpoints, flow charts, diagrams, etc.) that are effective for you in learning. Almost everyone uses audios, videos, and PDFs; determine for your learning style who uses them effectively.  Do you want a step by step process map or do you want to learn a general concept and then be able to get under the hood to tinker?

Some of the information you will find is crap, posted in an attempt to separate you from your money.

Some of the free internet marketing information is great though.

It was Eben Pagan who coined the term “moving the free line”.  In general, it means that many of the best teachers of internet marketing give away many of their best ideas.

What these teachers sell, for the most part, is a more in-depth coverage of these ideas, information about related knowledge that is crucial to maximizing your utilization of the free information, and coaching/consulting for growing your business into the revenue monster you want it to be.

Since you can acquire so much information for free, is is really worth the money to pay for the add-on service?

That depends.

Do you want to take a few years learning how to utilize the free information?

Or do you want to be “up and running” in a few weeks or months?

One last thing before I “wrap” for today:  don’t get caught up in trying to constantly look at all of the free online marketing stuff there is out there.  There is simply too much for anyone to read and watch.

After you have a good idea of the lay of the land, pick you niche and dive in.

If there is one common trait I can note in the lives of all successful persons in this world, it is that they are persons of action.  They form a plan, act, learn, and re-act.

So… form a good idea of what is out there, pick a niche, pick someone from whom you think you can learn, invest in their program(s), learn, and act on the learning.

Then wait for results, analyze the results, supplement your learning as necessary, and adjust your attempts.  This works in internet markets just as it works in… well, pretty much all areas of life.  If you want to be a success… take that first step NOW!

Proper use of this feedback loop is what you will use to become successful.

As a place to start learning, I suggest Jeff Johnson’s youtube channel.  He has dozens of great internet marketing videos there.

http://www.youtube.com/jeffjohnsonvideos

To your success!

Tom