The Average Internet Marketer Is What?

This whole project started out with wanting to survey subscribers, readers and members. As an Internet marketer, blogger and membership site owner, my job – and that of my friend Soren Jordansen, is to provide the content, training and tools that our members and subscribers need, and recommend the good products that will help them further their Internet marketing career. Soren thought it would be a good idea to ask members and find out what stage they were at, what they were missing – and more importantly what we would need to do to help them. The results were quite interesting and a real eye opener. So much so that it inspired Soren to offer this eBook. An eBook with a step-by-step system that is very much designed to help the “average survey taker” get into some of the more, shall we say, interesting brackets I’ve included some of the survey questions, results and comments here – and there are a few reasons for that:

• It is an interesting read and you can learn something about the marketplace we operate in, by seeing the numbers and contemplating on the comments.
• The survey was originally done on a 25,000 member list and got a 10% response rate. That means that it is statistically valid.  Chances are that the average would also apply to any list you have within the Internet marketing niche. In other words you can use the results and knowledge in your own marketing.
• As I said, the survey and results were the foundation for the free eBook you are about access. Going through the survey first will give you a better understanding of the system we are about to reveal to you.

So let us jump right into the survey …

Question 1:

How long have you been involved with Internet marketing?

• 6 Months or Less = 22.30%
• 6 Months to 1 Year = 22.30%
• 1 to 2 Years = 22.30%
• 2 to 5 Years = 21.19%
• 5 Years or More = 12.27%

No real surprise here, the numbers are pretty evenly spread out, and we have seen similar results before. If anything, it shows us that Internet marketing is still in its infancy and thousands of new people are joining the ranks each day.  I have heard a lot people say that marketing to the “Internet marketing niche” is hard, the market is saturated, and so on. We completely disagree. I think this is the easiest niche to master, especially if you are relatively new to the game.

Question 2:

Are you working full-time online?

• Yes, I’m full-time and I make a “full time income” = 7.43%
• I’m full-time online, but I don’t make a “full-time income” = 34.57%
• No, I have a job so I’m part-time online = 57.99%

Not surprising either, when you consider the stats above – after all you don’t just waltz in an create a full-time income overnight, no matter what business you get involved in – Internet or otherwise. It did however surprise us to see the high number of full-time marketers not making a full-time income. I have thought about this, and my guess is that the number includes a lot of “stay at home” moms and dads. They may not desperately need to create another full-time income for the household, but they would like to.

Question 3:

What is your income goal – why are you in Internet marketing?

• To make a bit of extra cash to help make ends meet = 10.78%
• Want to create an extra stream of income (but keep my job) = 7.43%
• Want to create an income that will let me quit my job = 54.28%
• Want to be filthy rich = 27.51%

This did surprise us …  a lot! We thought (and have been told) that most people who get involved in Internet marketing are just interested in making a bit of extra cash, thus falling into one of the first two categories. As it turns out the vast majority wants to quit their JOB, go full-time online and be filthy rich (yeah, I know we all want that). So, that’s what people want …  but what are they actually making?

Question 4:

What is your monthly income from Internet marketing?

• Zero, zilch, nada, nothing = 50.19%
• Less than $500 = 38.66%
• $1,001 – $2,500 = 2.60%
• $2,501 – $5,000 = 0.37%
• $5,001 – $10,000 = 0.37%
• Over $10,000 = 1.49%

Can’t say that the numbers surprise us, but they sure do scare me. Over 50% are not making a single cent. The number is way too high to fend off with a “it’s all the newcomers” comment, so there must be something else at play. And this is interesting …  if you correlate the numbers with the “full-time” question, you will see that quite a few people consider $500-$1000 a month a full-time income. Guess it could be depending on where you live and what your ambition is. It definetely would not be considered a full-time income here in Canada or the US. That was a bit about what people are earning and what they would like to earn.

Now lets look at the rest of the questions and some of the probable causes …

Click here to download your copy, no charge, of the “Internet Marketing Success Formula”

You Are Who You Think You Are

When Brian Tracey says it we feel a sense of confidence in his spoken words – his delivery is so eloquent. If you did not watch the video in the top right column, then please do so now. Our personal mindset is what drives us. If we are depressed then we do not accomplish very much, if at all. If we are tired, and that can be from more than just a lack of sleep, we “drag our heels” and work at a slower pace. When we are happy and cheerful we seem to accomplish so much in so little time. It is amazing how our attitude and outlook on life can change our level of success.

In self-employment, as an entrepreneur, what we think we are is more critical than ever. As an employee of a company, if we have a “down day or two”, we still receive our paycheck – not so when you are running your own business. In self-employment, especially in Internet Marketing, you need to be the toughest “boss” you have ever known, and, in most cases, you are also the only “employee”.

To change your “thinking” you need to do more than just change your attitude. Dr. Walter Doyle Staples, a good friend and author of the globally acclaimed “Think Like A Winner”, provides us with a cause-and effect relationship to see how personal beliefs represent the very foundation of your life:

WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR THINKING,
you change your beliefs;
When you change your beliefs.
you change your expectations;
When you change your expectations,
you change your attitude;
When you change your attitude,
you change your behavior;
When you change your behavior,
you change your performance;
When you change your performance,
YOU CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

If you are just now considering self-employment by way of Internet Marketing, heed well the advice and wise counsel above. If you are now in the world of Internet Marketing but, like over 90% of people who are, failing to make a decent income at it – if making any money at all (maybe losing), then stop and re-invent yourself and your personal life … they go hand-in-hand.

Outsourcing Using the Internet

Sometimes in business, as skilled as you may be, there are things that you are unable to do. A customer will come through with a very specific brief and, although you will be able to do most of it, there may be a part of the job that poses you problems and prevents you from completing the task. In this respect, it may often seem that you will have to turn down the opportunity. But it is not necessarily the case. With the Internet at your fingertips, you have ready access to a skills base that means you can complete on that job even if some of the work is outside your own remit. Welcome to outsourcing via the Internet.

Thinking of it as a non-Internet situation for the moment, imagine that you were an interior redecorator who specialised in hanging wallpaper, painting and plastering. It may just be that a job comes through that involves all of that plus laying a hardwood floor. You’re good, but you’re not experienced in laying down floors. With the use of some contacts, you could pay for the services of a person who is capable and experienced in that part of the job. By paying them to take those duties on, you can accept the job and move forward.

There are many workers out there who do business via the Internet, and to contact them all you need to do is pick up the phone. If you cannot complete a job all by yourself, but it will pay well, there is no need to give up. Just log on, find a contact and get the job done.

Maximize Your Potential

The Internet is a global marketplace, and allows people living in small villages in one corner of the country to trade with someone half way across the globe in a similar village. Twenty years ago, such trading would have been enormously tricky and would have taken a lot of time – by which point a customer could well have reconsidered, or circumstances made the deal impossible. With the increase in efficiency that the Internet has brought it is now possible to move goods, services and money between nations at almost instantaneous speed. While this may have removed some of the browsing time, it does mean that you can make money quickly.

Although there are many reasons why people go into business, we would be kidding ourselves if we claimed that there was not one factor which motivated business above all others – money. Being able to make money at the click of a mouse has made the Internet an indispensable item for those who have become used to it – and there are several businesses now which will not trade any other way. The costs that a business used to incur have disappeared in large part, and every bit of money you make can be a profit if you do things the right way. The advantages that the Internet has bestowed on us are really quite startling.

The Internet is a way for potential businesspeople to maximize their potential and make money fast – money which they can use to streamline their business further, make more money, and make it faster.

Making Contact

Before the Internet made its way into almost all of the homes in the developed world, making contact with people was a great deal more limited. The quickest way was to pick up the phone, but this required the person you were trying to contact being on the other end if you wanted to get information to them in any meaningful way. Due to the Internet, we have now got the magic of e-mail, which allows us to put down exactly what we want to say, spell check it and read it through before sending it – and even if the person we are trying to contact is not at their computer, they can read it when they get there.

E-mail has been superseded in many cases by the advent of the Instant Messenger. For many people, this is a waste of time, as they feel that it is easier to pick up the phone and speak to somebody. In some cases, it will be. But if you want to have ready access to information that may not be on the tip of your tongue or on paper in front of you, the Internet is impossible to beat. You can send links and photographs via an IM service, and as a result you will be able to showcase the full range of your talents and the reach of your knowledge.

The Internet has made getting in contact a great deal easier than once it was, and allows us to get our message across in a more measured way. Some of us are not possessed of a really good phone manner. In such cases, the Internet is more than useful – it is a gift the like of which we could not dream of.

Freelancing

The life of a freelance worker before the Internet was a very different thing to what it is today. In the past, any freelancer would need great mobility or a very sympathetic pricing plan from their phone company. In order to get around to pitch yourself to potential customers, you would require boundless energy, and an ability to deal with being told “no” face to face or over the phone. So much of freelancing is about speculation, after all. You can try and sell yourself a hundred times and could be told “no” a hundred times – and the chances are that you will get at least fifty rejections even if you are excellent. Although the Internet offers no guarantees of acceptance, it does make things a bit more equal for the freelancer.

There are many sites on the Internet that offer the opportunity for freelancers to pitch to potential customers on specific jobs – a searchable database means that you can even check for jobs that match up perfectly with your own specific skills and abilities. You can name your price and tell the customer how quickly you can turn a job around. The days of having to get out there, pound the pavement and then be told “sorry, we’re not interested” are more or less over. Not to mention that the Internet provides a truly monumental research tool for the jobs that require a bit of extra knowledge. The internet is nothing less than a launch pad from which to set your career in motion.

What You Need to Get Started

Although the Internet has made it a lot easier for people to make a start in business, it is still worth making sure that you maximise your potential as a businessperson by having all of the possible tools you could need to get things up and running. In order to start, you need comparatively little compared with a bricks and mortar business – but the better equipped you are, the more possibilities you can turn into definites.

A computer and an Internet connection are obviously the base minimum. As you are reading this, you have access to those at least. It is then a matter of what you need to add to these. If you want to put photographs of yourself or things that you are selling onto the Internet, you will need either a digital camera (preferable) or a scanner (just about acceptable). You will also need somewhere to put the photographs – a website (which requires you to buy webspace) or a blog (which does not). A website is more customisable, so if you have the know-how to do this, it is preferable.

To sell things at the click of a button you can ask your bank to set up a business account with scope to take electronic payments, or you can open an eBay account. Using eBay you will be able to auction items or services off to the highest bidder, and receive payments almost instantly through PayPal. The benefits of having the Internet mean that you can do all of this from a chair just in front of your computer.

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The Benefits of Working Online

Online business has become huge in the relatively short time that the Internet has been around. People in their thirties and late twenties can easily remember a time when the Internet existed only in the minds and laboratories of technological wizards, and computers were firmly rooted in the one place – both figuratively and literally. Now with the advent of laptop computers and WiFi technology, you can surf the Internet just about anywhere – even on a cell phone so small you could fit it in your mouth if you really wanted to. The importance of the Internet to business has risen exponentially in recent years as a result of this.

If your business is online, it opens up a whole new world to you – almost literally. At one point unless your business was a specific import-export business you could trade only in your home country or near neighbors – even in some cases only in your home town. But with the advent of the Internet and the ready availability of mail order, a small shop in a small town can without batting an eyelid sell to a customer thousands of miles away. That’s progress for you. And you can use it to your advantage. Having such a broad reach the businessman can set up a customer base that is colossally larger than it previously would have been.

Spending money to get online – not always necessary, as most home computers are now linked up – is a canny move indeed, as it puts you right in the path of millions of potential customers.

Use What You Have At Your Disposal

Starting up in business used to necessitate an incredible amount of ground work. You had to find premises. You had to source materials and buy necessary items. You had to get any number of clearances before you could go ahead and even begin to trade. It was a major reason why innovative people with ideas and a work ethic were lost to the world of business – the initial outlay and the potential loss from not having a steady income was too big a risk. The Internet has beautifully democratized the world of business, and as a result people with ideas are benefiting.

Now you can start in business as long as you have a few things, which are generally available to most ordinary people. A computer and an Internet connection allows you your way in to the business world. There is no point going in to that world, of course, if you don’t have a solid idea, but that was the case beforehand. Now, as long as you have your plan, you can put it into effect very quickly and make it pay for you within a very short timeframe. Having a bit of money to spend on promotion and facilities will make it easier and quicker, no dispute there. But it is no longer essential.

Driving things forward is about harnessing what you have. If for example you want to make money as a copy writer or proof reader, you need to publicize your services wherever you can think of, and ensure that people can contact you. From there it is simply a matter of presenting a human face and a trustworthy nature to potential customers.

Work to Your Strengths

In order to make money from the Internet, all you often need is a strength – a selling point that sets you apart from the majority of people. There are other things that will boost your chances of adding to your bank balance. Being a sound business mind includes things such as knowing how to sell, setting a price that will attract customers while not leaving you short. There is some trial and error involved in setting a price, but instinctively you will have an idea what is fair, and some quick research will tell you what comparable businesses are charging for similar services. From there it is all about working to your strengths.

You should know what your strengths are. If you are unsure, look at what you have done successfully in the past. What business have you worked in most recently, and did you do well at it, and enjoy it? If so, there is a clear indicator of what you can do well. What were you good at when you went to school? If it was languages, for example, you can set yourself up as a tutor in those languages, or a translator. If you have a college diploma, even better. Few subjects that you can major in at college are incompatible with making money. It comes down, as often as not, to doing what you are comfortable with. Your instincts will tell you what the path to follow is, then it is simply a matter of honing the business to your key strengths.

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