Making Money Online - What Do I Need to Know?

Every body seems to be making money online. Read the sales page of any Internet Marketer and you hear how they made it to the big time and how you can too, if you would only buy this product or join that membership club. Can this really be true? Is it possible to make money online just by following those few "easy steps"? Well, the answer is both Yes and No. What those very successful internet marketers don't always emphasise is that there is a lot of hard work involved, a steep learning curve and many mistakes made before you hit the jackpot. Perhaps they don't mention this because it should be obvious ; the one thing that you should never lose in your quest for online riches is your common sense. Think about it for a minute - Is there any field, any legal field, in which you can become rich overnight? So why should Internet Marketing be any different? Keep in mind that when those successful IM gurus talk about making money online, they are talking to people who have already prepared themselves for the next big step - getting rich.

To succeed in Internet Marketing, you need a product and a website. A product can be either physical, digital or a service.

a) Physical Products : Anything from books, toys, electronic goods or any merchandise that has to be physically transported from one place to another.

b) Digital Products : Usually sold in the form of eBooks or Software. They can be downloaded instantly by the customer on receipt of payment.

c) Online Services : Services advertised online that meet specific customer requirements. For example: data entry, online movie rentals, dating services, conducting classes online etc.

If you don't have a product or a website, you could always try your hand at Affiliate Marketing, where you sell someone else's product and get paid a commission on each sale. However, this entails strong advertising skills and a thorough knowledge of Google AdSense, Google Adwords, Keyword Research and the use of other promotional tools .

So what exactly do you need to know before you too become an Internet Marketer, making a comfortable living online? First you research, then study, plan and finally put into practice all that you learnt. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It is; compared to other ways of making money. But here you are on your own and you are bound to make mistakes. Moreover, since you are just starting out and don't really know how successful you will be, it is advisable to keep a tight control over your budget.

Research - The Internet is a gold mine of information. For the serious student, there are free and reasonably priced eBooks, free articles as well as free and fee based eCourses that will help you get started. Research the various marketing strategies and the type of products you feel you could promote. Consider also, whether you would have the time and budget to set up a web site filled with content running to many pages or if you would prefer mini sites with just a sales page and an order page. Since you plan on selling goods/services, you must analyze the various internet services that process payments and select the one that best suits your purposes. Above all research thoroughly the type of web hosting and autoresponder services you would need to optimize your sales.

Study - Although it is not necessary to be an expert in web site designing, some understanding of HTML and graphic design is a must. It is true that you can get several high quality templates for your website and for all your other graphics requirements like buttons, bullets, headers and so on, but if you don't want your site to end up looking exactly like all the others that were also downloaded from the same site, you need to personalize it. Even a simple but elegant site needs some tweaking to be done and rather than be at the mercy of web designers, a basic knowledge of how HTML and graphic design work will go a long way in your designing a website you can be proud of. There are several excellent and free tutorials on this subject on the Internet, catering to both the novice and the more experienced. While you were doing your research, you would have come across several well reputed Internet entrepreneurs; either through their articles, their blogs or being mentioned by other marketers. It would be a good idea to make a list of those who you feel are suited to what you have in mind and either join their membership site, their ezine or even buy a book that explains their strategies. Several of them also offer free coaching videos if you become a member. You could also join Joint Venture Giveaways where you can pick up several useful eBooks and Software for free.

Plan - Now that you have an idea about what opportunities are available for making money online, it is time to put together a detailed plan of what you will do next. Do you want your web site as an adjunct to your offline business? Or will it be an independent site promoting online services and/or products - either digital or physical? Will you be selling other people's merchandise as an affiliate? Decide on whether you want to sell popular, branded products that have high name recognition or high end products where the customer base may be small but the sales or even the commissions on the sales are high. Would you prefer to market niche products where sales are generally very profitable because the ratio of sellers to buyers is lower than in the broader market? Once you have decided on the type of product you will be selling, design your website around it. The key to a successful website is that it is informative, easy to navigate, attractive and the sales copy respects the potential buyer by providing all the pertinent details without using unnecessary hype or false claims. With the website ready for uploading to the web hosting provider, it is time to choose a domain name. Choose one that is reflective of the product(s) that you are selling, so that as soon as your customer sees it, he/she has a good idea as to what to expect.

Once your site is uploaded, you can start putting into practice all the marketing strategies that you have learnt. Do not be discouraged if you don't find a steady flow of visitors from the very first day. Even if you follow, without deviation, the advice of the Internet Marketing experts, there are bound to be some that don't work or that need a bit of fine tuning. Use the knowledge you have gained through your research and your study creatively and you will certainly be assured of success.