7 Key Internet Marketing Tools

Your decision about the Internet has been finalized. You’ve announced to the mirror, your spouse, family, co-workers, and friends that you’re going to put a website up and become a kingpin of Internet Marketing and the first Internet Zillionaire.

Once you come down from the Internet cloud and land back on the ground of eBiz commerce, the reality sets in and the question becomes; what do I do now?

There once was a man who wanted to be a mechanic. His name was Henry and Henry had plenty of energy, liked cars ever since he was a kid, and had lots of desire. He told everyone that he was going to be a mechanic.

He walked into a local service center and conveyed to the owner of the facility that he wanted to work as a mechanic. The first question he was asked was; what do you know about cars? His reply was, “I really think cars are cool.”

The owner rolled his eyes and asked; where are your tools? Henry’s reply, “I need tools?”

The question that crushed Henry came in the form of; tell me about your experience working on cars. Henry sheepishly replied; “I’ve never really worked on cars, but I know I’ll make a good mechanic.”

The owner, feeling Henry’s embarrassment and pain offered words of encouragement, because he wasn’t quite sure of Henry’s sincerity. “Make sure you come back to see me after you take some courses, get some hands-on experience, and build up a good assortment of tools.

Now I ask you Internet Zillionaire to-be, what’s your plan?

Here are 7 of the key Internet marketing tools that you should put in your tool chest, before you go off and tell the world what it is that you’re going to do with a website.

·        Surf the web. It sounds easy, but so many people don’t do it. They just jump in with their checkbook or credit card in hand ready to spend. Look at sites that are doing what you plan to do and take note of how they are doing it.

·        Leave originality in the closet for now. Don’t confuse originality with creativity. By all means, be creative, but if no one has a website that is the same theme as the idea that you have rattling around in your head, give it up for now and go with a more popular theme.

·        Keep your mouth shut. Not to be rude, but don’t go telling the world about what you are going to do until you’re absolutely sure of your path. You may decide to sell dog grooming supplies online, but after a little surfing you change your mind. Perhaps the field of selling dog grooming products is too crowded for your liking. If you don’t tell anyone what your website is about, you will have the freedom to change your mind a dozen or so times without having to answer the “why” questions and you’ll feel less pressured.

·        Once the money’s gone it’s gone. Like Henry, you have to acquire some knowledge about the World Wide Web before you can sensibly spend money on your own website. Knowledge before jumping in is a good axiom to follow.

·        Don’t listen to the advice of the naysayer who, in most cases, has no knowledge, interest, or experience with business. Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone has experience to back up what their opinion spews into your ears.

·        Time is valuable and committing to a website isn’t a five minute a day task. It will take hours, weeks, and months to get prepared, and to increase your chances of success. If you’re in it for the short-term gain and you think you’ll avoid the pain, you’re dead wrong. Good things take time, stick to the fundamentals and maximize your level of patience for the task, because you are entering a battlefield, where the weapons are knowledge, content, and understanding of the Internet.

·        There are people and products that can give you a competitive advantage over those who choose to just jump in and build a website. Terms such as html, blog, s.e.o., traffic, link, affiliate are just a small sampling of what you need to know and more importantly; you must understand the terms in order to build a business on the Internet that lasts.

The quick buck artists come and go in every cycle of the economy, but the steady players, the ones who stick to the basics are the ones that will be around year after year.

Investigate before you take the plunge and you’ll be rewarded with the tools you need to have the best chance of success.