Dirty Facts of Life

Many new people approach internet marketing with a belief that making money will be easier.  All you have to do is throw up a website and put a great product on it and the money will come rolling in 24/7.  Right?  Right!

Yesterday, my post discussed how I had spent time observing how people were doing things as internet marketers.  I spent plenty of money on their products too.  Even taking detailed notes during teleconferences and webinars or reading eBooks more than once did not prepare me for everything I needed to know.  Internet marketers, like most services, leave out just enough to whet your consumer appetite and keep you coming back for more.

Eventually, I turned to a mentoring program to help me put all the pieces together.  Yet, even those training calls specialized on things that had worked for them.  As the size of the group expanded, it became crystal clear that I would need to be able to point to bona fide proof of my abilities, as a leader, as well as differentiate myself somehow.

Having intimate knowledge of traditional marketing and customer relationship management gave me a lot of material with which to work.  Of course, my experience of being a technologist as the internet morphed into the World Wide Web helped me to understand the devils in the details of was necessary to operate an internet business.  This breadth of experience is of great benefit to those who come to me for help or services too.

Recently, I was conversing with a new internet marketer working with another coach who told me of their mission at a bookstore to find a book to pull everything together for them.  As they described the myriads of titles they had perused and how this caused their head to spin, it occurred to me that finding the “right book” required enough knowledge to be able to discern whether or not such a book existed. 

The dirty truth is that the language is new, the concepts aren’t fully understood and the questions that need to be answered aren’t clear at the beginning of an internet marketing career.  Sometimes the questions that need to be answered aren’t clear to the grizzled veterans.  (smile)  As you begin to practice your new skills and apply them to the trade, you will discover the questions that need to be answered.  And always remember: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!”

The adventure lies in discovering something new to learn and, once it is figured out, having a bright and shiny new tool in your belt.  Establishing new friendships along the way and growing a business that has potential to survive any economic climate is both fun and satisfying.