There's about a million and one reasons why I love Internet marketing.
It pays, of course, and that has to be important. It's fun too. I'm having a ball doing this and it's rare that someone can say that about their work.
But one of the things I love the most about Internet marketing is that it's democratic.
Anyone can do it. And I really do mean anyone.
That makes a huge difference.
Usually, people thinking of starting their own business already have money. They need to have it. There are offices to rent, equipment to buy, employees to pay, and so on. Those start-up costs -- and the fear of losing them -- have put off so many entrepreneurs.
That means opportunity is often only available to those who have already enjoyed it in the past.
Creating an Internet business though doesn't have to cost a dime. Blogger and Wordpress.com both give away websites for free, including hosting. Design templates can be free, social media marketing costs nothing but keystrokes and ad programs like AdSense pay you to join them.
It is possible to start building a six-figure Internet business without a dime in start-up funds. It will cost you time but it won't cost you cash.
But once you start earning I don't recommend that you continue not investing financially in your business. A free blog is fine but buying your own domain will make it easier to market. A free template can look nice but hiring a designer will give you a unique brand. And while trial and error will always be a part of your business, the faster you learn the ropes, the sooner you can start making real money. That's true of any business. Even a kid with a lemonade stand needs to learn how much sugar to add to the water and the best place to set up shop.
Internet marketing doesn't demand money. But like any business, the more you're willing to put in, the more you're able to get out.
And that's something else I love about Internet marketing: the return on investment is phenomenal
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
April 27, 2009 10:20 AM
Thanks so much for this short and sweet entry. Many of my clients are understandably concerned about costs. Your article is timely and encouraging!!
April 27, 2009 10:21 AM
Once again, a thought-provoking article, and - as always - you're spot on.
It's exactly the same message (and vision) I try to bring to my blog readers. If only they would take action they could become a part of tomorrow's successes.
Thanks for a good blog. :-)
April 27, 2009 11:01 AM
Think of time as an investment, too. Our cancer survivor website, http://www.cancermatch.com , took x amount of dollars to create, but, easily, a thousand times x in lost income from the time it takes to develop and promote it. Given the good work that Cancer Match is, I have no complaints, but, new marketers would be well advised to consider their time as truly valuable as the actual dollars they invest.
April 27, 2009 12:02 PM
As much as you can, and as much as it takes!
April 27, 2009 12:17 PM
"It is possible to start building a six-figure Internet business without a dime in start-up funds. It will cost you time but it won't cost you cash."
I like this phraze as is a model of spreading the optimism. Yet +90% of people who try, fail. Why ? Is not internet fault, is not marketing fault, is (sometime) not fault of one who try teach others how to ..
..................
Here's the deal I propose :
Cut out "six-figure" from above phrase and I will send you a rare 12 volume e-book from 1998. I`m live on twitter and download link is ready .. :-P
April 27, 2009 12:18 PM
Joel, after 3 years in this biz, it has only been recently that I found out that it really doesn't cost a dime to create an internet business. It opens up a whole new aspect of income I had not known existed--having been shy about this "blogging" thing...waiting to see if it caught on, you know.
Few of my "mentors" have had their feet on the ground the way you do. Too many just want to sell the next big gimmick to me. Thanks for the real stuff.
Jay
April 27, 2009 01:33 PM
Hi Joel: thanks for all the interesting information you let us know everyweek about Internet.
I am learning with every newsletter.
Thanks again.
Alfredo E.
Seguroz.com
April 27, 2009 03:58 PM
Joel, Your right. I think it's important to start out learning with as many of those free tools as possible (free ebooks others are offering, etc). Keep a log of your questions. Then, begin investing in yourself through programs, seminars and tools. Ask the questions. No program is complete. Some step is always missing or assumed. Monetizing is not as easy as you think, especially, if you come from the 'turtle' world! Blogs like yours are very appreciated by those of us still in the learning curve. Thank you for your great content.
April 28, 2009 12:00 AM
I guess it is about how commited the people are in the business. But the internet indeed open up alot ofopportunities :)
April 28, 2009 10:06 AM
Great post.
It seems people are too afraid to spend a little money.
To make serious money, you will need to invest money.
April 29, 2009 06:00 PM
The opportunities provided by online marketing are extremely exciting! Not enough people understand that while you can literally run a start-up for free, you actually do have to invest something- time! And yes, of course, the more you put into it- both time and money- the more you'll get out of it. Thanks for a great post!
April 30, 2009 12:07 AM
I'm just really beginning to graduate to the level of spending more money for products. I can do this because I'm making more money online.
What I really love to find is a deal...Many of the online marketing centers that charge monthly fees have great introductory trials.
For a small investment of less than $10, I recently got access to an intire classroom for thirty days that teaches how to make money with Adwords.
Wow, I was on information overload but walked away with excellent teachings that could make me thousands if I play my cards right.
April 30, 2009 11:05 AM
I read a great analogy of this at another site. With your blog, imagine a money making machine. On one side, in order to get the output, you need to put in a slot peice labeled Time. On the other side, you need to put in a slot piece labeled Money. The more money put in, the less time you may have to put in. However, the less Money you put in, the more Time you may have to put in. Currently, I am putting in more Time and less Money, based on where I am at. But, as my blog brings in money, All of it is going into the Money side of the machine. And thus shall I build my internet marketing foundation :)
April 30, 2009 04:10 PM
Network marketers always have money issues, especially beginners. And now the added burden of economic recession. Well, there is some good news. There's a new network marketing online system called front end funded proposals where you, as a marketer, sell inexpensive but very useful information products before you even talk to your prospects about joining your business. Using funded proposals can easily cover your marketing expenses and, more importantly, get free MLM leads and MLM signups as more and more prospects will come to you and ask to join your program, thus exploding your million dollar downline growth. As a matter of fact, if you do custom funded proposals properly, these internet network marketing systems can totally eliminate your advertising costs and generate fresh MLM leads for you without you doing anything. If you create your own front end funded proposals like an ebook, it had better be good. The more helpful and valuable your information, the faster you can build your downline and the greater the chance those customers will purchase from you.
May 2, 2009 09:31 PM
True! For beginners it's okay to start everything for free but when the business starting to grow we need to invest some money to keep up with the business requirements
May 5, 2009 10:23 PM
"Usually, people thinking of starting their own business already have money. They need to have it. There are offices to rent, equipment to buy, employees to pay, and so on. Those start-up costs -- and the fear of losing them -- have put off so many entrepreneurs."
Been there, done that! Yes my wife and I started a privsate college in 1989. We paid $80,000 a year for rent, $250,000 for salaries, $250,000 for office furniture and equipment, no computers, only 75 Panasonic Word Processors, Advertising, wow what an expense that was, and in the end, after working 6-7 days a week from 7.30am to 9.30pm, we eventually went bankrupt for $500,000 AUD when my wife was 65 and I was 67. We could no longer compete with Australian taxpayer funded TAFE Colleges who undercut our fees which resulted in falling enrolments and ceasing to be economically viable.
"It is possible to start building a six-figure Internet business without a dime in start-up funds. It will cost you time but it won't cost you cash."
WOW! This octogenarian who was still working 60 hours a week at age 77 when he nearly died form pneumonia with clots in both lungs would like to know about that!
Can an old buffer learn new tricks?
Thanks for the article! I am gob smacked!
May 24, 2009 09:56 PM
This 80 year old Aussie from 'the horse and buggy days' has been struggling to make sense of internet marketing for the past 10 years without any success at all.
I must have spent thousands of dollars and thousands of hours without ever earning a crumb.
Is internet marketing for real? Do people really make money on the internet?
June 7, 2009 01:44 AM
Joel - I tell my people that you either need to spend time and effort to get your internet business off the ground, or spend money for advertising or outsourcing to garner traffic.
The good news is that if you don't have money to market... there are several no cost strategies you can use to build your traffic. Things such as article marketing, press releases, video marketing, blogging, web 2.0 properties, social networking, social bookmarking, forum marketing, and more are all free... you just have to implement them the right way.
I'm such a big proponent of these traffic techniques that I've built a free team membership site for anyone in my downline to use to learn these strategies. I'm even implementing one of them right now by commenting on your blog... adding value to your post... and using my keywords as the anchor text instead of my name... I hope you don't mind! I don't think you will :-)
Thanks Joel!
Sincerely,
Stacey Stanley
June 11, 2009 10:50 PM
Thanks for all the interesting information you let us know every-week about Internet.I am learning with every newsletter.The more money put in, the less time you may have to put in. However, the less Money you put in, the more Time you may have to put in. Currently, I am putting in more Time and less Money, based on where I am at.
June 13, 2009 12:12 AM
It's very subjective and boils down to how much money you have as different strokes for different folks.If you have money to spend,it's an advantage for you to start your internet business sooner rather later.You can outsource things which you don't know,don't like to do it yourself to respective internet experts.If money is an issue to you,you may need more time to learn the rope through free resources which are available on the internet in order for you to jumpstart your internet business.The beauty of starting an internet business is - it open to anyone regardless of how much money they have !