Is online business marketing a black art?

There was a time when it seemed like putting up a website was like having a shop-window open to the whole world. I guess at one time, this might have been true when a business website was the exception rather than the norm. The trouble is that now you can't have any business and appear credible without having a website.

Things have moved on since then though, and where it was always accepted that you had to advertise to drive sales to a bricks and mortar business, the same is true of an online business. Without being able to drive traffic to your site you have virtually zero chance of doing any business, especially if you're competing against bigger players with bigger budgets who appear able to easily out-muscle you on the Google Adwords campaign that you've just put together.

I keep hearing of people who have apparently grown their online businesses with very little or virtually zero marketing spend, but these are normally the people selling their marketing techniques! Did they make their money from selling some bogus marketing 'fad' that is only going to make any money as long as people are duped into buying the training course?!

I have been looking for some online business model where there was evidence that it had worked for other people. I wanted to talk to lots of people who had come from a similar background as me and made a success of their online business. The I could ask them: does it really work? When did you start? How long did it take you to get where you are now? How much effort did you have to put in to growing your online business?

The 'gurus' always seem to have a 'rags to riches' story, but you never get to speak to them directly; they're just too big! Where could I speak to lots of people in the same position as me? It was beginning to appear as though running an online business was actually harder than a 'bricks and mortar' one with much less chance of success.

This automated business system has been a revelation for me. I have been able to talk to real people and check it out properly without lots of pushy marketing guff trying to get me to part with my money. The best part is that although there is a hell of a lot of work to do, everything is mapped out for you in detail with immense support from people who have an interest in your success. I haven't yet found anything else like this where you essentially buy into an online business franchise for a fraction of the cost and with massive potential rewards if you put the hard graft in!