And when you look at their internet marketing strategy, it's no surprise.

Yet, they all fall into a classic trap that can ruin your chances of online success before you even get off ground.

Have you heard about ultimate short-cut to success?

Ultimate short-cut? That's right.

Many are led to believe that this is holy grail of marketing online.

But, if this is your idea of a perfect internet marketing strategy, think again.

Here's how it works...

It's easy. Create a crappy product and contact every 'sap' who has an opt-in list of 40,000 subscribers or a website that gets a few hundred hits a day. Then ask them all to promote your stuff.

Works like a charm, doesn't it?

If you've ever been on other end of inbox, you know how annoying this can be.

Some person who sends you 12 emails out of blue, asking (begging) you to endorse his/her product.

For example, I recently received a similar email from someone asking me to promote an MLM product to my subscribers and customers.

First off, email was clearly a cut-and-paste job. It might have started with "Dear Jason", but rest was a boiler plate email.

A big no-no when trying to get someone's attention and win them over.

And what about product?

For all I know, product might have been white hot. But, MLM is furthest thing from my subscribers minds. Not all of them, but I'll bet at least 90% of them.

The problem here?

One word: targeting

My subscribers and customers are not ideal target market for this particular product. If I start promoting MLM, I might as well squeeze in a "how to pick a winning stock" mailing as well.

Unfortunately, you will also see this "spray-and-pray" internet marketing strategy in other areas.

Let me give you an example.

Have you ever received an article on a topic that was no where near what you (or your subscribers/customers) are interest in?

Or, have you ever been asked to review a product that was about "snake breeding" or something way off in left field?

Have you ever received an email asking you to buy a drug that you have absolutely no use for?

The same rule applies: targeting

My advise? To really nail down your internet marketing strategy and hit pavement running, here's a shortlist of things to consider.

>>> Hand Pick Your Partners Wisely

Fast-forward thirty years and meet a young man working at an insurance company who dreamed of starting his own small business as a financial planner. He had education and experience but what he didn't have was cash. The year is 1999 and after a few weeks of research young man realized that marketing and promotion were vital to success of his business. However, young man knew about a magical method of promotion that wasn't available to young woman in 1969. What was magical method he used to start his business part-time and build it into a full-time thriving practice after six months? The answer, of course, is internet!

It's true that internet seems like a capricious magician that selectively waves a magic wand over some small businesses. However, reasons for this became glaringly clear to young man after he completed his research. He discovered that success is garnered by avoiding scams such as "business opportunities" that seem too good to be true. In addition to hard work and patience he stayed away from spam, Free For All Links (FFAs), pyramid schemes, network marketing, sweepstakes and investment fraud. He used http://www.scambusters.org to avoid anything that remotely resembled a scam.