Spending Thousands Learning Internet Marketing? You may have Made a Mistake!
Article by Thien Kai Wei
Do you buy every e-book or new report out just to get the insider secrets on how to learn e-commerce marketing and Internet marketing? Are you going broke just trying to find the answers? You don’t have to. In fact, there are many free and adequate resources out there on the web that will tell you everything that you need to know and you don’t have to go broke trying to find them!
A year ago, I was new to the idea of doing business online and because of my in-experience I was naive enough to take out my card and spend several thousands on a single package from an internet marketing company at one of their brainwashing sessions. I did this all before having a really good look at what else was available to me.
I attended another session at the same company a year later and, as I sat there, I witnessed reenactments of my own mistake through other people eagerly taking out their credit cards to purchase learning packages ranging from ,000 up to ,000 at the end of the seminar.
Please don’t let this happen to yourself. Don’t get me wrong, not all of the people who bought these packages made a mistake. For some, it has proved to be an effective investment of their money, while others may not have received any results at all. My point here is that, if you are a beginner, explore your options and learn as much as you can for free before handing over that card and signing your hard-earned money away.
What I didn’t know and what I want you to know, is that there are a lot of free or cheaper ways to find resources and start learning Internet marketing, so lets take a look at some of the options that you have.
Free E-books, Articles, Podcasts And Radio Shows
There are literally thousands of free e-books and articles all over the web that you can read or download. Article directories are a great place to start and you will find that most of them are filled with useful and informative information designed to educate the reader rather than be filled with worthless advertising information. This is because article directories have strict guidelines set out for those who submit the articles and they must be filled with useful content for the reader.
In the articles that you read, you can also click on the authors back link in the authors resource box and be transferred to the website of the author to find out even more information. Article directories will provide you with very basic knowledge on just about any topic including Internet marketing or e-commerce marketing, providing you with a launch pad to learn more on. All of this is free to you.
Podcasts and radio shows are also a great way to learn about topics of interest. Podcasts are much the same as radio shows although you have the option to subscribe to them, and receive information automatically using software that can read the feed formats such as RSS or Atom. Information from a podcast can be saved, or even downloaded for later and played on your mobile, ipod, mp3 player or on your PC.
Most subscriptions are updated frequently for new information, and best of all they are mostly free. Websites offering podcasts have a small icon that is orange with audio lines through it. By clicking on this icon you can subscribe to that site and receive information as it is made available.
Google It
You can also find plenty of resources by doing a search on Google for Internet marketing information. BUT keep in mind that you are surfing for information, not to purchase anything, so keep your cards in your wallet for now. Don’t be too worried if you come across ‘limited time, once time only’ offers or products and services that are at rock bottom prices. Keep focused on finding the good materials out there.
Forums
Forums are one of the best ways for beginners to find out helpful, free information on e-commerce marketing and Internet marketing. The good forums are free of corny sales pitches. The information provided on forums is mostly for readers, not shoppers. Forums often have ‘stickies’ that compile all of the information and posts into a single thread that you can go through. This makes forums even more attractive as you don’t have to search for them.
One of the best forums that I have encountered is http://www.highrankings.com/forum. This forum is frequented by a host of Internet experts in the industry. The forum itself is owned by an SEO company that has been around since 1995. The only problem that you may encounter is that the threads or posts are often filled with SEO jargon, so make sure to check out the stickies that we mentioned earlier first. This site also offers an Advisor newsletter that is very informative. You can also see their archives for information from previous publications.
Blogs
Blogs are another great way to learn things from other Internet marketers. You will find that most Blogs are written by people much the same as yourself and are willing to help you along, giving you tips they have found in their travels. Blogs are a great way to learn from other people’s mistakes and get free info and resources other people have found helpful.
PPC Advertising – Take A Walk In The Park Before Entering The Jungle!
Pay per click advertising is an effective way to get your advertising message across, but before you get too excited and start using PPC ads from Google Adwords and Yahoo, start small. There are great PPC networks such as 7search.com or http://knnoodle.com that are much cheaper and will provide you the experience you need to start off. We all make mistakes and these smaller, cheaper PPC networks are a great way learn without spending too much money and to test the effectiveness of your campaigns before moving onto the big players such as Google or Yahoo.
Affiliate Marketing
If you are just beginning, the best and cheapest way to start your Internet marketing business is to sell affiliate products first. Most affiliate programs offer their affiliates resources such as pre-made ads for your PPC campaigns, solid sales and landing pages for your visitors to go to, photos of the products you are selling, follow up emails that are sent out to your customers and much more. By joining an affiliate program that has these tools already in place, you will have an insight into what an effective Internet marketing campaign looks like.
By using an affiliate program, you also have the added advantage of having a ready-made product just waiting for you to start marketing. All affiliate marketing programs are not created equally, so don’t just sign up for the first thing that comes along, make sure that careful consideration goes into the products that you choose to market.
Your internet business depends on the products that you choose. If you don’t find products that are in demand or competitively priced, people won’t buy them and you will not learn anything from this simply because you will not be able to track your results and measure how effective your efforts have been.
I am personally active in an affiliate program which provide quality products sold at reasonable prices, as well as already prepared advertising material with easy to understand guides to help you use them. At the bottom of the article, I will provide you links that you can follow for more information on those.
Conclusion
I have written these tips to help other Internet marketers or those who would like to make a start in the industry. To let you know that there are options out there that will cost you less money and effort when you are looking for information about learning internet marketing.
You can choose to spend your money and buy one of those expensive packages. By doing this, you may save yourself a lot of time searching for information or you can use the tips provided in my article and spend a little more time doing it. The choice is yours, just as long as you know all of the options that are available to you. Once you start with Internet marketing, remember that you will need to invest both time and money to make your business successful.
Despite what the hype and ads stating how easy it is now, an Internet business is just that, it is a business and needs to be taken just as seriously as a brick and mortar business. It is not a walk in the park, it is hard work and will take a lot of perseverance and patience to get it just right. But when you do, you will reap the rewards.
About the Author
Kai Wei
Find out at OnlineSuccessBiz the SECRET he use to earn income online even while he learn at home and receive a FREE ebook by Napoleon Hill!
