One of the secrets of being a sucessful marketer is to develop good habits. If you only have an hour spare a day then get into the habit of using all 60 minutes of that hour to develop your site or products.

If you spend way too much time on Instant messaging or reading emails develop the habit of turning them off when you start to work. Developing habits that allow you to work effectivly can be the difference between making a living from internet marketing and making a bit of extra cash.

Developing all the best habits in the world isn’t going to have any effect if you aren’t prepared to work. I know I’ve said this many times before but there are no short cuts, you can’t spend money on a product and expect to be making a profit within a few weeks unless you have all the basics in place and know how The Internet Marketing world works.

And Finally…..

I had a conversation with someone I know quite well last week who was complaining that there is a conspiriacy to keep details of what really works away from the general public. This attitude would be quite funny If it wasn’t the 2nd or 3rd time it’s heard it in the past few weeks. I don’t know where this conspiracy theory came from but it’s just not true.

I think it may come from the fact that people tend to over complicate things. I personally like to break things down into the simplest method possible and get that working first, I then start to add tweeks that may make things more profitable.

For example If i want to promote a clickbank product I’ll set up a review page then drive traffic to it with articles.

Once that starts to work I may add related content to the site to attract more visitors. I may then take the keywords used to find the site and start a small ppc campaign . If at anytime something doesn’t work I can always go back to basics.

Internet Marketing should always be about building a long term sustainable business not short term profits. Following these 7 Rules should help you achieve that long term sustainable business.

Firstly I have to admit that there aren’t just 7 rules of Internet marketing, Internet marketing is relatively new and as such you should discard all the rules and find what works for you. When I say discard the rules obviously stay within the law! So this is 7 guidelines that will help you succeed at Internet marketing but that title sucked!

Many of these guidelines are closely linked, for example building a business and controlling costs could be included in the same guideline but wheres the fun in that, this article would end up being a business manual with more content than an MBA.
If you are bored already and would like the next 450 words condensed into 1 word it is… Commonsense  (or is that actually 2 words?)

Right assuming you are still reading this let’s get started with rule 1.

1. Build a Business

Internet marketing shouldn’t be a hobby or a pastime it should be treated as a business. That means having a business plan and a long term objective. Build income streams, adsense, Amazon and eBay are great but you can’t build a stable business on them.

2. Focus on the task in hand.

Set aside a time for work and stick with it. Turn off all distractions such as e-mail, messaging software and twitter and concentrate on what you are working on. I find I can build a site in about 2 hours with no distractions or 2 days if I don’t focus on it.

3. Control Your Spending

Every cent you spend on new tools and software is a cent more you need to earn before you are in profit. Before you buy the latest product being promoted ask yourself do you really need it and how much extra will you need to earn to cover the cost.

4. Know your topic.

I’ve known internet marketers who bring out products on PPC one week, fish care the next and then a few weeks later launch a new product on selling via eBay. It’s obvious that they can’t be experts in all these areas so why would anyone want to buy the products. Learn everything you can about your niche and become an expert.

5.  Residual Income is the key.

One of the keys to being a successful Internet marketer is to generate residual income. Knowing that you are going to be having a regular income coming in from various sites or affiliate programs each month frees you up to try more speculative and potentially more financially rewarding ventures.

6. Provide Value.

No matter what you do try to provide value to your clients and customers if you produce an eBook don’t release a version 2 after 6 months update the current version and send it to all you existing customers. The more value you provide them the more they’ll be inclined to buy from you later on.

7. Be a Leader not a Follower

Don’t just follow the herd seek out the untapped markets and design your own unique products. Aim to have people copying what you are doing after all imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Keeping only a few of those rules in mind when you are working in the internet marketing field should help you to become more successful.

I want you to read this post then spend a few days thinking about what I am saying to you. Don’t immediately dismiss it as impractical consider it, weigh up the pros and cons and decide if it’s something you think you could do.

Before I discuss my idea with you lets consider the cost of a few things….

Eban Pagan Get altitude seminar..$10,000

Tony Robins Seminar $2595

Earn 1 K a day Seminar $595

This is My idea…

Imagine living in an community where all around you had fellow internet marketers who were spending a year living and breathing internet marketing. sharing ideas and knowledge , working on collaborative projects, outsourcing work to each other, brainstorming, creating businesses and motivating each other.  How much of an income would you be able to generate in that environment?

But don’t forget you need the  lifestyle elements  tennis, golf, swimming pool, gym and sauna, mountains, sea breathtaking views and great weather most of the year great restaurants and the shopping rocks.. .  The perfect life work balance.

Sounds like an expensive dream doesn’t it, what if I said you could live this dream for around $1000 – $1500 per month. When I say live I mean just that. Apartment costs are included food is good and cheap as it eating out.

Next month I am moving close to Marbella in Southern Spain a penthouse apartment is going to cost me €700 per month. The apartment is on a gated community with all the facilities I mentioned above. There are several Apartments available in the same development.  For a while I’ve been thinking about the possibility of an Internet Marketing Community (no not like Waco!) Just like minded marketers living in close proximity sharing ideas,  resources and supporting each other and their families…..

Spend sometime thinking about the possibilities and the lifestyle

Like the Idea???  Want more Info? email me at admin {@} income-academy.com

Internet marketing is a very young business, and is still finding it’s feet. For example look at your average IM sales letter, it is pretty much a copy of the type of direct selling that has been used in direct mail over the past 50 years.

Recently there have been subtle changes the addition of video and audio (radio ads and infomercials?) but it still has a long way to go before it develops into it’s own well defined unique marketing system. This is not to say whats being done now is wrong, virtually every new business type has started by copying it’s older rivals .

Another aspect of how an internet marketing business is run is the outsourcing of work. Outsourcing makes it seem relatively cheap to get work done. Suppose I want to build a new site on a Niche what do I need to do to have it outsourced.

Suppose I want 20 articles written on the niche .  I sit down at home , compile a list of keywords, send them off to a writer, who writes them sends them back a few days later. If I am lucky I can use them as they are or them may need some tweaks for this I’ve paid $160.

It’s the same If I want some graphics created for a site or a wordpress theme designed. I complile a spec sheet, send it off pay my $100 3 days later I have a set of graphics.

I want you to now consider something that many people consider as heresy, setting up an office and employing staff and interns.

If i want to get that same site set up..I call my graphics guy and my writer in to the office and tell them I want a site built on the following niche. By the end of the day I’ll have several articles and the theme will be ready. I am not sure what the wages for staff/interns are but they shouldn’t be too much more than I’ve paid the outsourcers.

I can then pass this on to the person responsible for building links and ensuring that the sites rank as high as possible in google.

By setting up my own office just like old style businesses have I have immediatly speeded up the creation of projects and sites and more than likely the profitability. I can also offer professional outsourcing to fill any time that my staff aren’t busy. Imagine being able to offer professional style outsourcing, provide a phone line for clients so they can order over the phone , give the client a phone number so the clients and writers can actually talk on the phone. Hell they can come and visit if they wanted! You could even set up your office and as a sideline provide desks, house services & training to internet marketers, just like some companies do for day traders

Imagine having an idea while driving to work, then as you step in through the door calling your graphics guy and your adwords guy togehter and telling them that within an hour you wanted a series of adwords and and landing pages for product X.  I had an idea for the samething 3 weeks ago, I still haven’t managed to get the landing pages outsourced!

Think about it for a while…yes the overheads are higher but the income and income possibilities are much higher.You have fixed costs each month so you know you need to earn $3000 that month with the staff and systems in place you can just as easlily build 100 sites a month as you can build 1 site a month. You can buy established sites and develop them to their full potential.

Do you think EzineArticles would be as important as they are today if they didn’t all work out of an office.What about Google? Where would they be if the owners didn’t see the big picture and stayed in their home studies.

Think about it, do the maths then start small with a sublet office and 1 or 2 staff and expand.

Is internet marketing a hobby or a business to you?

This question has been prompted by 2 different experiences I had this week. The first was going through the excellent Commission Blueprint that was released last week. (You can see my review on CB Income)I only wish that other products could be half as good as this. The content is excellent and contains absolutley no fluff but that’s not what impressed me, it was how the guys involved treat their Marketing as a business.

The are not afraid to loose money in the short term as they know that it will lead to profits in the long term, they take in to account cash flow and they know exactly how profitable a keyword or a product is. Treating IM as a business allows them to earn $30,000 – $50,000 per month.

The second was a conversation I had with a marketer who sells supplements 6 months ago he had a blog selling supplements through CJ he was happily making $6 -$9 a sale on average. One day about 6 months ago he decided to research the supplements business. He looked at suppliers and fullfilmant houses, how to collect payments. What people were buying. He spoke to people in the business and came up with a plan.

Step one was to replace the affiliate products on his site with his own products which he bought from a supplier with his own labels on them. The minimum quantity he needed to buy was 60 so he spent $500 and bought 60 bottles of the best selling supplement. Inside a month he had sold them all and was best friends with the local shipping company, plus he had made a $2000 profit.

Next he invested $1500 in more supplements and $500 in advertising that was 3 months ago, his income in august was in the region of $70,000. He uses a fulfillment house to send out the products and has drastically reduced the purchase costs as he buys in bulk.

The point I am trying to make is that it’s easy to think of your online marketing as a business but do you know the ROI on your articles or adverts? Can you identify which niches are profitable and should be expanded or which should be dumped? Do you know if you should set up a LLC?  What happens if one of your sites earns you $20,000 next month?

I hope that gives you something to think about over the next few days!