Internet Marketing - There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch!

Have you ever noticed that you can wait for ages for a bus and then loads will come at the same time?

Well that's what's happened to me with my attempts at internet marketing.

Of course I'm not talking about buses but information.

Now don't get me wrong. There's a lot of information out there but the trouble is most of it is pretty disappointing. It's either rehashed versions of what's already gone before, get-rich-quick schemes, or not explicit enough, at least that's been my experience.

I am an audio and visual learner and also because I am a bit of a technophobe (having still not even mastered the intricacies of a mobile phone) I require step-by-step lead-me-by-the-hand instructions to get from A to Z. Many suppliers of information just assume we are all computer geeks and know the letters in between.

I know I'm sad, my son's already told me, but I'm not alone.

Okay, you might ask, - if I'm so bad with the computer, what am I doing trying to be an Internet Marketer?

Well, I blame it on menopausal madness and a "Free" lunch. Let me explain..

Landing on my doorstep one day I discovered an invitation. It was to attend a free meal at a very posh hotel and as it happened to fall on my birthday I decided to go.

I thought I would be able to impress my friends when they asked me how I'd celebrated my 50th and had no intention of telling them that in order to enjoy my meal I had to listen to a thirty minute talk by some company who claimed they could possibly change my whole life by helping me become an online success and market like the pro's.

Actually the talk was very good, so good in fact that I went on to listen to a full day Internet seminar. This time it was held at an even grander hotel in London and it was packed with people from all over the country who had also been for free lunches elsewhere.

The company hosting the event were (and still are) an American internet company who specialise in helping small businesses and entrepreneurs. They sell website packages which include hosting and guaranteed merchant accounts.

They presented a very good case for themselves. As I didn't know anything at all about internet marketing by the end of the day I couldn't stop myself from buying in to the dream.

I returned home with six websites and absolutely no idea what to do with them.

However, I thought if I set up the websites, the customers would come. How naieve.

I had visions of working just a few hours a day at times that suited me and earning loads of money even whilst I was asleep.

To be fair that does happen for some people but it's pretty unrealistic. There is a lot of groundwork to be done before such results are achieved, and it helps, of course, if you have some idea what you want to sell or what you want to promote.

You need a specific goal and direction.

I didn't have either and have subsequently spent a lot of time and money trying to find both. However, now like those elusive buses I've discovered just what I've been looking for and hopefully the tide is turning.

Since that meal I've come a long way and discovered a whole new language. There's so much to learn about Internet Marketing and information overload remains a major problem. Often I've dreaded turning on the computer because of the amount of e-mails I knew would be waiting for me.

People promote all sorts of different ways to make money on line and each one is supposedly the real deal. It's so confusing and I'm not surprised most people just give up.

Before you get a chance to learn how to do one thing, another tempting opportunity is offered. Always the sales page convinces you it's a must have piece of the Internet Marketing jigsaw and often you are led to believe if you don't buy immediately the chance will be lost forever.

I've been tempted so many times and changed direction and focus. I daren't hazard a guess how many PDF's, reports and e-Books I've downloaded but never read. I am on numerous lists and have no idea why but daren't get off them in case they are important. Obviously I felt whatever was being offered in exchange for my e-mail address was worth it at the time.

Like I said I'm menopausal and can't remember what I was doing this morning yet alone yesterday, last week or last month so if I didn't take action straight away then I just didn't take action at all.

I know I'm sad but again, I'm not alone. Even the so called "gurus" in the business of Internet Marketing will admit to having done exactly the same.

My computer is full to bursting point and is running really slowly. I know I have to delete some of the information or at least transfer it. I also have to take off some of the "Free" software, none of which I've ever used but I just haven't got the time.

It has been a Catch 22 situation right from the beginning for me. I started with six websites and had no idea what I was doing, where I was going or how to get there. I'm geographically challenged at the best of time so without a proper guide I've just been going round in circles.

Time has been the major difficulty. If I read the information I downloaded I didn't have time to take action .but by not reading it I didn't know what to do anyway so was just wasting my efforts.

However, if you have faith and wait long enough the buses will come and luckily now several have turned up at the same time. My window of opportunity for financial freedom has at last arrived.

It seems everything I ever heard about making money on line was wrong, or at least the information was incomplete.

Now I've discovered the truth about Internet Marketing. It's actually Teachable, Doable and Repeatable. You just have to know how.

Still, I'm not complaining about my wasted funds, time and energy. I have enjoyed the journey. It's been an interesting learning curve and I know it will work out in the end.

One thing I am absolutely certain of though is that there's no such thing as a "Free" lunch especially where Internet Marketing is concerned!