Internet Marketing - Surviving the First Year

So you've decided to take leap into deep water and go into business for yourself, specifically into Internet Marketing. Congratulations! This was a smart decision, one that will eventually reward you with all dreams you can dream. Your challenge now is to survive that 1st year.

Hopefully you're reading this early on in your endeavors, and can make adjustments necessary to keep your enterprise afloat and your bank account bouyant. Here are several things "gurus" neglected to mention along way to building your own internet marketing empire!

1 - Who are you listening to? There are a lot of people who've made a lot of money, and they're all too eager to tell you about it, frequently in form of their latest product. It's very easy to find yourself tuning in too many voices, instead of riding one horse till it either gets you there or is spent. Find a niche that interests you, find products that are either yours or through an affiliate program, and focus entirely on your plan, not allowing yourself to chase rabbits.

2 - What is certain! And that is that real money to be made in internet marketing is produced in following ways: owning your own site(s), your own products, your own opt-in mailing list, and your own vision! Think about it! Not one of internet millionaires to whom we look to for advice has lacked any of these for very long. You bought their products off their sites, joined their mailing lists, and to one degree or another shared their vision. If you haven't already, begin immediately to build your own empire. Build a site, start learning about traffic, linking, opt-in lists and all other essentials necessary for long-term success. Affiliate marketing will only take you so far. In fact, most of top affiliates have several of their own products!

Going the extra step for success

Do you have a product to sell? Then why not go one step further for success? What I am talking about is finding ways to expand upon and build your business, while at same time providing opportunity in other areas. When you sign up for an MLM company, you are told to pitch your product line to a warm market, this simply means to go out and pitch it to family, friends, co-workers etc. The same goes for signing up for affiliate programs somewhere on Internet. Though these methods are effective and work for many people, there are avenues that few attempt to follow or even see. By not seeing these avenues people are missing boat big time. Here is an example of what I just said: Joe Smith belongs to a local church with over 5000 members who use on a regular basis products from such stores as Target, Wal-Mart and other retailers. Would it not make sense to set his church up with an affiliate program for these stores, in order to get some residual income for church? Most of these major retailers now offer affiliate programs on their websites. Here is yet another example: Of 5000 members of Joe’s church over half are paying for a dial up Internet service like AOL. Of those people over 80% shop at places like Wal-Mart and Barnes and Nobles. There are Internet companies that are out there who charge less than AOL and they pay affiliate commissions. What if Joe got his church signed up as an affiliate and has ability to offer Internet service to its members at a discount while generating residual income for church in process?