*Updated*Internet Marketing. What is it all about? It's only been two months since I got serious in educating myself with what it's really all about, and from what I've gathered so far, it's basically selling and advertising your merchandise or services online. But there are many ways to do this.
When you say you are an internet marketer, it's as generic as saying you are a scientist. So what is your specialization, exactly? Biology, chemistry, phyics? For an internet marketer, do you focus more on pay-per-click advertising, article marketing, newsletter marketing? Do you sell your own products and have your own website, or are you an affiliate marketer, which means you are promoting other people's products and receive a commission when a sale is generated?
I know that the internet is plagued with crooks and their schemes, but there are legitimate ways of earning money and doing business on the internet. Starting a successful and legitimate online business is the same as starting any other business offline, in that it takes time, effort, persistence, discipline, money, and all that jazz.
I was first introduced to pay-per-click advertising. When you type a search in Google (or Yahoo or MSN, etc) on the right side of the screen there's often a column of sponsored links. Those are set-up by the “affiliates”. When someone clicks on the ad and a sale is made (or if the person subscribes to the service), the affiliate is paid a commission (as much as 75%). He is paid for his advertising efforts and for the product exposure. Now, this method of advertising requires lesser effort compared to others, but it takes effort nonetheless and a substantial amount of advertising money. Basically you sign up (FOR FREE) to be an affiliate of a product you want to promote, create an account with Google Adwords or a similar advertising program, research for the best keywords to promote your product, bid for the keywords properly, but what deterred me from using this approach right now is the high cost of advertising in Google. You have to pay whenever someone clicks on the ad, but that is also the way for you to EARN money when the sale is made. So you have to make sure that a) people click on your ad by making it compelling, and b) the clicks convert to a sale if they get enticed by the product's sales page.
You could actually make a living out of this if you know how to do it properly (duh). The good thing is that there are good samaritans out there who are genuine in helping other people who seriously want to get started with this. I know because I've looked around and I'm grateful to have known some of these people. I knew they're the real deal when I emailed them and asked about marketing stuff during the reading period last semester, and they advised me to focus on my upcoming exams first before I get distracted with internet marketing. They also taught me to persevere, learn the ropes first before rushing into anything, because there is no way to have an overnight success in an online business, or any business in general. I've learned a great deal from this
members-only forum, from all the technical details on how to get started, running your first Google Adwords campaign, and they have truckloads of encouragement for those who need it. So far this is the best online forum I've been in, and yes, I have looked around. That's why I was very sad to leave (read: unsubscribe) yesterday, the last day before I get charged for next month's subscription fee, because I would be leaving a great bunch of mentors. I left because pay-per-click advertising, which is their specialty, is not for me right now. I found other ways on how to do marketing with free advertising (and not using Google Adwords), which I learned from one of the members of that forum.
That's what I'm working on right now, among other things. But I need to have a clear direction, because I was overwhelmed with ideas on where to go next after my failed attempts at pay-per-click advertising. I joined another what I think is a great membership site, but I'll give it about a month's probation before giving my thorough comments. But so far so good - lots of resources, lots of stuff to facilitate learning, great support..
And the most important thing I learned from my new mentor, Bryan Winters (you can go and Google him), is that with any business venture, there has to exist the elements of desire, persistence, and ultimately seeing things through to the finish. It took him 9 months working several hours a day to reach the point where he was ready to quit his day job and focus on his online business, and now all his hard work has paid off. He is financially free, is able to make his own business decisions, and if it fails - so what? He's not going to fire himself.
However, one of the worst aspects of this internet business experience is that your famiy and friends don't understand what you do and think that you are either doing something
a)illegal
b)immoral
c)unethical
d)a total waste of time
e)all of the above
If I try to explain I'm trying to have an internet business to mainly sell digital information products, I know I'll most likely get a blank look. And I'm not the type who can express myself very well verbally to explain further, which is the primary reason why I'm leveraging on the internet to start a business. Right now I am not in the position to say how exactly it is done, because I am a newbie myself.
Online business is the future here and now…and now is definitely the time to make my mark and be a part of it all (versus being left in the dust). I know I will succeed as long as I have the desire, and put forth the effort. I've never devoured so much reading materials and business tutorials, and never took down notes this much during a summer vacation until now. It's only during this summer vacation at my hometown that I've spent more quality time with our computer than with my pillow at night.
It's not that easy and it takes discipline to do this, but it's exciting and it's a lot of fun learning new things. And of course, in due time, the rewards would come and they will be great. =)
PS
My current baby: www.kgeventures.com - it's floating somewhere and still a major work in progress. Bought the domain but haven't uploaded anything yet.
