Internet Marketing - Surviving the First Year

So you've decided to take the leap into deep water and gointo business for yourself, specifically into InternetMarketing. Congratulations! This was a smart decision, onethat will eventually reward you with all the dreams you candream. Your challenge now is to survive that 1st year.

Hopefully you're reading this early on in your endeavors,and can make the adjustments necessary to keep yourenterprise afloat and your bank account buoyant. Here areseveral things the "gurus" neglected to mention along theway to building your own internet marketing empire!

1 - Who are you listening to? There are a lot of peoplewho've made a lot of money, and they're all too eager totell you about it, frequently in the form of their latestproduct. It's very easy to find yourself tuning in too manyvoices, instead of riding one horse till it either gets youthere or is spent. Find a niche that interests you, findproducts that are either yours or through an affiliateprogram, and focus entirely on your plan, not allowingyourself to chase rabbits.

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

3 - The learning curve. There is a certain amount ofinformation you simply have to either learn (or pay for).Don't discount the fact that this will take a little time.One doesn't discover how to build and market a fully-optimized web site in a month. Or three! This is; andbecause of the fluid nature of the web; always will be awork-in-progress. Do what you can do every day and come backtomorrow for more. Don't be discouraged when the money takesa while to appear; if you do this right, when it does showup it will be worth the wait!

4 - A support system. Get one. Don't plan on supportingyourself from your business right away. It took the best atthe very least several months to start seeing any realmoney. Don't despair if you turn out to be mortal, too. Giveyourself a chance at this; the rewards are simply too great.I'll leave you with a quote that sustained me many a night:"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail myship." - Louisa May Alcott

Keith Thompson is the webmaster of Internet MarketingHere & Now where you can find lots of information on howto learn internet marketing!