Suddenly his mind raced with dark thoughts, his stomach churned, and he became engulfed with a sense of hopelessness.

This man had just come face to face with FEAR. Now he had a life altering choice to make, one that we all must face: Fight it off, or let it destroy his dreams.

You will never face a more worthy adversary than your own fear. It knows all of your weaknesses, and it will try to use them against you.

The thing about fear, is that it preys on your innermost demons. You can't hide these thoughts, because this dark force lives inside you. It hides in shadows of your mind, eagerly awaiting opportunity to pounce and create self-doubt.

Fear will manifest itself in many ways, and more you feed it, more control it has over your life.

If you want to be a successful online marketer, you must prepare yourself mentally to wage a personal battle against your inner demons and self-doubt.

Your family and friends can only offer you so much support and encouragement, but in end, you must fight this battle alone.

If you are serious about making money online, you must strive to become a professional marketer.

If you're a financial advisor, you probably think you're marketing financial advice. If you're a sales consultant, you may think you are marketing sales training. If you are a realtor, you may assume you market homes or commercial properties. If you market big screen TVs you may think you're selling latest technology.

In each case, you'd be right in terms of your deliverables, but you'd be wrong about what your prospects are buying.

Over years, I've worked with service providers ranging from plumbers to financial advisors, to data management firms as well as numerous marketing consultants. Despite diversity of services they provide, they all face same hurdle to increasing their sales. Each and every one has product or service they deliver confused with what they are marketing.

What you're marketing and what you actually deliver are two different things. The key to increasing your sales is to realize that what you are really marketing is hope – your clients' hope of achieving their goals.

You're marketing to your prospects' hopes that they'll be happier, more successful, more attractive, smarter, richer, more comfortable, more secure, etc. Target your marketing to real reasons people buy, and you'll be much more successful in motivating them to make a purchase from you.

Focus your marketing by identifying what your prospects want. Make a list that describes their hopes. Following are some samples to give you idea:

- What Your Prospects Really Want - Residential Realtors' Prospects - I hope I can find a home I can afford - I hope I can find a home to accommodate our growing family - I hope I get best possible price for our current home

Sales Trainers' Prospects - I hope I can generate more leads - I hope more people understand how I can help them - I hope I can sell more of my products and services