Imagine you wanted to go into business for yourself off line.... You want to have the best shoe store in your hometown and maybe even your state!

You wouldn't just go out today and throw up a store and stack it with some shoes would you? Not if you wanted to be successful....there would probably be months of planning involved.

The great thing about internet marketing is we can cut that planning time considerably...but we can't eliminate it.

We must study our customers, find out what problem they are trying to solve, and find a product that solves that problem. To truly be successful, we can't just go to clickbank and select a product, throw up a ppc campaign and hope for success.

Our customers are looking for why your product will solve there problems and you won't know that without planning and research.....which leads us to our next topic.....Keep reading

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In case you haven't guessed by now....research is extremely important in determining the success or failure of any campaign....

We mentioned earlier that our customers are looking for an answer to their problems.... you won't know what their problem is if you don't do plenty of research!

A whole book could be devoted to this one subject but I will give you a general overview...

Say you go to magazines.com to search for niche ideas and decide to target photography...

Now you need to visit "photography" forums online and get more specific...such as "outdoor photography"...and then even further to maybe "outdoor digital photography"...or any other "specialty niches" within the larger niche.

Once you have your niche narrowed down...lets say to "Wild Bird Photography"...you need to visit "Wild Bird Photography" forums and find out what questions people are asking and what problems they are having...keep a note pad handy a jot down what you find....you will start to see the same things coming up over and over.

Once you get a fill for the niche you may even post some of your own questions......

Only after you have done this should you look for a product to promote.......if you can't find a product to promote, move to another niche or create the product yourself!

Most of your time should be spent on research. If you don't know how to research properly...get help. This one affiliate marketing tip will save you a lot of heartache.

Ask questions on forums and see what others are doing. Wealthy Affiliate University is a awesome place to go to learn from the best internet marketers on the planet!

The pile theory is very simple....see who has a bigger pile of money than you and ask them how they did it...

When your pile is the same size as theirs...find someone with a bigger pile!

Learn this now the cheap way...or learn this later the expensive way....You Will Need Help

Throughout your internet marketing career you will hit many roadblocks....you can spend hours or days trying to figure them out....

Or you can ask somebody that has already been through it...Internet marketing is a education and you must invest in it like a education however....

It can be a very cheap investment and provide huge returns!!

The greatest thing about IM is the amount of information available to you...the worst thing about IM is the amount of information available to you!!

There are hundreds of forums, ebooks, and programs that can help you with your internet marketing career but be warned....

Most are more hype than content and there is no "magic formula" or program to make you rich overnight. There is plenty of information available for free.

The one recommendation I would make to you is to at least check out Wealthy Affiliate University which is a resource I use every single day.

There are too many features and benefits to list here but besides the great forum they also have a free website builder, free hosting, and an 8 week beginners program that takes you by the hand from start up to profit!.....

Best of all they never try to push expensive software onto you...all the research and marketing they teach you can be done for free, check them out here.

Thats it!...The rest is up to you...This will only help you if you take action. What will you do now that you have the affiliate marketing secret?