Internet Marketing Strategy Index: The Starting Point for all IM Strategy Lessons

As many who have decided to become internet marketers have discovered, there is no formal training program or certification examination that you can pass to become an expert internet marketer. There are great courses provided by others who have learned from experience gained through tons of time and money but most of us seem prone to learn as we go, picking up golden nuggets of information along the way.

This isn't because we don't want to benefit from great programs out there that teach the fundamentals and shortcut lessons that we need to know, but the sheer volume of information and offers from less than expert providers makes us skeptical of all but the most famous (and expensive) program by the "guru" internet marketers. When you take first steps toward deciding to join this field, the first thing you need to know is what it means to be an Internet marketer. Reasonable people have differed in their definitions because what we mean by the term isn't always clear to everyone.

Let's start with what Internet marketing is not. It's not making efforts to con people out of their money. It's not sending spam to everyone you know and don't know. It doesn't just mean selling on eBay or having your own website and products. It certainly isn't signing up for forums, social networks, and online communities for the sole purpose of hocking your wares with no additional contribution to the purpose or aims of the group that you joined. This last point is important because that's the fastest way to lose credibility as a professional and does the most harm to your marketing efforts-it's the equivalent of social spam.

In reality, internet marketers can pick and choose from a whole host of options available to help them make money. Many internet marketers make the mistake of selling internet marketing products to other internet marketers-a hugely saturated market. In fact, when you use internet marketing tools and techniques in non-internet marketing fields, your opportunities are virtually endless, and include one or more of the following:

- Selling digital downloads (information products like eBooks, MP3s, and videos)
- Promoting other people's products for a commission (affiliate marketing)
- Selling on eBay or other auction sites or merchandising and retail sites
- Running a membership site or subscription based forum
- Selling your online services (writing, graphics, etc.) as a freelancer
- Owning a website that sells dropshipped or wholesale items from a 3rd party supplier

And this is just a short sampling of the profitable opportunities available to any marketer. If you're new to internet marketing, you might be worried that you don't have anything to sell. That's okay - most people don't start out with anything, and you never have to stock any tangible inventory of items if you don't want to.

Part of the attraction of internet marketing businesses is the option to produce and/or sell digital products that don't take up space, are easily duplicated and transferred. You can certainly produce and/or sell physical products which are perceived as more valuable by some and are more trusted by some consumers depending in your market. the great thing is that the choice is completely up to you depending on what's most appropriate for your interest and targeted audience.

Internet marketing creates no gender, age, race, or other boundaries for you. There are teenagers who have launched multi-million dollar companies as budding Internet marketers whose ideas sprung to life and catapulted them to instant success. There are also senior citizens and retirees who opted not to allow their earning potential to be dictated by a "fixed income" dependent on the uncertainties of a pension account or social security payments.

Both men and women have achieved tremendous success in addition to individuals from every ethnicity, race, creed, religion and any other category you can name. When you know what you're doing as an internet marketer and you become a trusted advisor for your customer base, the only demographic that counts is whether you're making money or not.

You don't have to do anything unethical or shady to succeed at Internet marketing, and in fact, launching a respectable business with a solid reputation is the secret ingredient that will allow you to hatch an empire on the 'net to fulfill all of your dreams and those of your family.

Stay away from spam-based tools and practices or "black hat" marketing techniques designed to artificially inflate your search engine rankings or to lure people into clicking on links to your website. No one likes to be tricked into joining an email list or misdirected to websites and search engines that they did not choose to join or visit. Given the huge potential for success on the internet and get-rich-quick attempts by many snake oil salesmen who call themselves internet marketers, the entire profession has suffered.

If you offer your expertise and value freely in an effort to help people achieve their goals while maintaining contact via any number of internet marketing techniques, when you do offer products or services to your customer-friends, your credible acts will speak for themselves and you will ultimately secure a profitable place among the gurus.

In the world of Internet marketing, there are a lot of unethical money-hungry scam artists preying on those who are not experienced in the industry. They know you're new, and they know you won't realize you've been suckered until it's too late.

So how does a newcomer to Internet marketing safeguard his or her pockets from the greedy, self-indulgent scams of an unscrupulous marketer? First, you want to do a bit of background research.

If you land on a page where someone has recommended a course or tool that you feel will help accelerate your internet marketing earnings, don't buy on impulse. You might regret it later and have to ask for a refund, or suck up the cost if no guarantee is offered.

Google can be your friend here. Type that marketer's name into the search engines and see if there are any scam details. But be careful! One of the most common affiliate pre-pitches is to promote a product by using the scam approach initially and then building the product up with a great detailed review.

You may see about 5 page's worth of links if you type in [marketer's name] and scam, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're real scam experiences. Always read the pages with care.

You also need to know that practically every marketer has a disgruntled customer. Some people get angry if their download link doesn't work and they don't get a response within 30 minutes. Others intentionally try to sabotage the competition by posting poor reviews online.

You should be able to find as much positive information (in the form of praise) as you do bad reviews. If not, it might be best to steer clear of that marketer since no one credible can endorse him (or her).

Never rely on their own claims (even screenshots of earnings can be manipulated). And if you find them in a forum, don't think that just because they have the highest post count, it means they're the best marketer.

Get personal recommendations from other marketers. If you want to find out who has the best affiliate marketing guide, ask in a forum and find out. Or, take the recommendation of a marketer you already trust, because if they provide you with a poor product recommendation, it tarnishes their own reputation, too.