Earn Money With Your Computer

If you run an internet business or home business, then you have to be a marketer. Internet marketing is crucial to getting website traffic, and/or having some kind of market to pitch your offers to. Without internet marketing, it is next to impossible to survive in the highly competitive internet business arena.

For the past few months I've been analyzing the plethora of email offers on what seems to be very innovative internet businesses, that inundate my mailbox daily. And let me tell you, I'm getting really jaded from reading about the same old 'never released before closely guarded secrets' on yet another incomparable internet business that is going to 'take the world by storm'. Talk about over-worn cliches.

A lot of marketers try to sell you the business plan for the latest hot item (or sometimes not so 'latest' or 'hot'), while they go on to the next miracle product which they package with their 'never-revealed-before secrets' that will cause an avalanche of money to roll into your bank account.

Playing on emotions.

Sales copies are constructed for one primary purpose - to incite your emotions. They spur you to fire your boss, holiday in the Caribbean, own flashy cars and ostentatious homes, work only 30 minutes then luxuriate in indolence, or simply enjoy the absolute euphoria of all play and no work.

Your visions of "instant internet riches" and fantasies of becoming "a millionaire overnight," have been once again given a patina of reality. And, oh glorious day! To get all this without really having to engage the brain or tax any muscle. It must be possible after all.

Take a deep breath. It's a mirage, a rainbow with no pot of gold at the end or anywhere near. An internet business is not some genie to put you on easy street instantly.

The 'closely guarded secrets' of instant wealth turn out to be either new or re-packaged marketing strategies that require a lot more time and effort to implement than you ever visualized. The word 'instant' is deliberately packaged to conjure an image of immediacy. And though you will certainly see profits if you work the business right and long enough, the millions may or may not invade your bank account.

You're only getting opportunities.

What you're really getting are the opportunities to make money, not a guaranteed commitment, so take time to properly evaluate the true value of the offer. Read the disclaimers that are the footnote of all spectacular offers [usually in small unobtrusive print] and see if you find any 'guarantee there.

Is there a formula for success?

Yes. Patience, commitment, belief, tenacity, enthusiasm (even when the situation seems all uphill and futile), concentration, creativity and work...lots of it.

To succeed in running an internet business or home business you need to make your presence felt. You need to be on the map. And you need people who want to find you and your product or service. You need marketing. Getting completely submerged in the millions of web sites is easy. Positioning yourself in a visible position is what a successful internet business is all about. Hundreds of thousands of people attempt to establish an online business each year...and hundreds of thousands fail.

Sure, their products were useful, their ideas original, their websites beautiful and their offers without parallel.

So what went wrong?

Their internet marketing strategies bombed, never took root or were not even implemented. After all, the offer they bought into claimed they would make money so fast their banks couldn't record the deposits fast enough - and all this without effort. Piece of cake. Nothing was mentioned about months of consolidated orchestrated marketing to get an internet presence first.

Truth? It's not easy to get into the wings, let alone center stage, on the internet, regardless of how spectacular the product or service. Each year websites are born and die without leaving the slightest trace of their existence.

Invisible businesses precede extinction.

Here's why. Just one reason.

Shoddy, slovenly, disjointed, fuzzy marketing.

Their business was as invisible as a snowflake in a blizzard.

Those who do succeed splendidly have one common trait; they first study marketing techniques, improve their writing skills (yes, there's a lot of creative writing involved in running an internet business), are patient and involved, are organized and focused and are able to think outside the box.

If you have a large budget you can of course contract out the entire execution, from web page designing to search engine optimization; marketing and promotions; advertising and publicity.

If not, you'll need to start at the shallow end, learn the strokes, then head for the high-diving board much later.

However, regardless whether you start up a zero-cost business or a multi-million dollar one, they will need to be marketed before they create a presence and start bringing in the profits.

There's a lot of trumpeting about niche markets, niche products and niche websites. That's the current buzz. I looked up the definition in The American Heritage Dictionary, and it read..."a crevice or narrow opening in a rock; a hollow in a wall for housing a statue." Hmm!

I've been involved in internet businesses for some time and I know how challenging marketing a business on the internet is. I certainly don't need the added weight of a narrow, restrictive market. I will admit that there's money to be made from niche products, but the marketability of these products are very ephemeral. When the fad fades, you need to start the whole marketing process again for the next fad.

Are you willing to do this continually?

Niche v/s established markets

A much easier and more practicable method is to select a business that commands an established market, provides you a website or two, hosts the sites, offers marketing material that you can adapt to suit your personal taste, and has very low or preferably no start-up costs.

Start with the right kind of business. This leaves you free to concentrate on the one activity that can really put you in the money -- strategic internet marketing.

Successful people are guided by their focus, not by their feelings."

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Dan Jeremiah, http://www.vmsbonline.com

http://www.vmsbonline.com is an internet resources site that collates material that is usually scattered all over the net. The site offers information, utilities and tools on a variety of niche topics. New content is added monthly.