Internet Marketing Or Education

[hamed]

Hey Guys,

I wanted to know that which one would be more important, internet marketing or going into further education? Should I rely on internet marketing if education fails? I see education as important, but I don't know what I should do. I'm really passionate about internet marketing and that's what I enjoy doing. I have a chance to do masters degree but it cost around $2000 to enter and if I fail that year then it's like I'm burning $2000 down the drain.

Feel free to add your opinions.

[Sergiu FUNIERU]

I would try to improve my Internet Marketing (IM) education and the financial education. The regular schools are good if you want to be the best employee. IM will help you to be independent.

Sadly, some people will still judge you by your degrees. You can do IM and standard education in parallel for a while, if you just want to be on the safe side.

Sergiu FUNIERU

[mr2monster]

Are you talking about deciding between IM and going back to college? Or buying traffic and other marketing vs. buying more courses to learn more?

[Jill Carpenter]

Things that would help you with IM are marketing, business courses, possibly some technical courses like web design or programming (depending on where you see your future career going).

Are you familiar with how to run a business? Do you know marketing?

If you have no clue about these things, then you will either need to learn them yourself or go to school for them.

Ask yourself this:

If in 5 years from now you are unable to figure out IM on your own, and you are broke, are you going to regret that you did not go to school and get an education to back you up that will help on a resume?

IMO, it is harder to get a corporate position or something with an established company without some kind of degree or certification. A lot of jobs require you have some college credit before even bothering to apply.

It can be discouraging when you can not tick off the box that says "college degree" - or even general applications that will ask "years completed."

You will be limited in your offline options, and forcing yourself into a tight spot.

[butters]

Im 19 I did college in the UK and got my diploma but never went into university, instead I went into IM. Ok bad news is, I havent earnt that much money but I have the potential to earn alot more then any other job. Is it worth skipping college? I would say no, if you are in the UK, go to college, try IM for a year or 2 then go to uni if it fails.

College is important to do once you leave school, I am assuming you are in the UK, if not, ignore my message :P. If you dont go college before your 18 and you decide to go back at 18, your looking at about 4k for a full time a level course, before 18, its free. So I would recommend going to college and doing IM at night.

[bobsstuff]

Why not get your education and do IM also?

It is said that those with a college education will earn more over a lifetime than those without one. Could it be that this also applies in the business of internet marketing? Will a college educated IMer maker more than a person without a degree? It would be interesting to know.

IM is about discipline to complete project in a timely and consistent manner. Education is basically the same thing. College helps you learn and accept the challenge of working through projects (classes).

Many say the college is training you to "work for the man" or become a corporate slave. It goes way beyond that. It also teaches you to BE the man and to own the corporation.

Obviously my vote is to get the education. In the WF you read about people working and doing IM at the same time. You can do that also, except your "work" will be going to class.

[SurviveUnemployment]

Education first -- it's the one thing nobody can ever take from you and the one thing that will help you bounce back from anything.

[keyaziz]

Both are forms of education in my opinion.

Do what makes you happy and what you will enjoy. Don't do formal education for the sake of it. Do it because you want to get something out of it - whether that is just enjoyment or a specialised job.

[Scott M]

It depends on your mindset and goals. In my opinion a "formal" education is not as valuable as people try to make it sound. Sure, it can help you get into certain fields that are otherwise inaccessible, but what if those fields aren't hiring anyone? Ask the millions of unemployed recent college graduates how much their education helped them? Nothing is guaranteed in this life including getting a job because you have a piece of paper.

Be sure to keep yourself nimble. In other words, don't get yourself in a situation where you NEED a certain amount of money to survive. For instance, don't run up a bunch of credit card debt and don't have a bunch of kids. If you are debt free and child free, you will be able to survive in any situation and pursue whatever goals you set for yourself.

Internet marketing is not a cure all. It is a career choice. Fortunately you can learn it on your own and you don't need to pay $250k to get a piece of paper that basically just proves that you paid your tuition for 4 years. If you are serious about financial independence, you can achieve it without being a part of the "system."

Just keep yourself nimble.

[Lance Johnson]

There are some solid points here.

I went through the same decision process. School doesn't seem too glamorous compared to the "IM Lifestyle."

My conclusion is that more school can't do anything BUT expand my mind further. I mean, how can it be a negative to learn more about how the world works, and hang out with people doing the same thing.

Also, alumni associations and name recognition with many universities can be a solid bullet for credibility. Plus you can score some serious connections.

Definitely a very personal decision.

EDIT:I forgot to mention that I opted to do exactly what Brian right below me is suggesting. School and IM. And it's going pretty well. Takes some discipline, but what's worth doing and doesn't?

-Lance

[The Brian]

Do both. Get the education, not only so you have something to fall back on if the internet marketing thing doesn't work out (which for most people, it doesn't work out), but also for the social experience that college/university gives you. You'll make friends that could last a lifetime.

[hamed]

Originally Posted by mr2monster

Are you talking about deciding between IM and going back to college? Or buying traffic and other marketing vs. buying more courses to learn more?

Im talking about whether or not to do a masters degree which cost $2000.

[Michael Nguyen]

I'm doing my Masters and it's cost me £5200. My degrees is for backup, just incase the internet ever blew up. Watch Die Hard 4 (Imagine some hacker, sending us back to the stone age, where all information is lost) You always need a backup plan!

[hamed]

Originally Posted by michael_nguyen

I'm doing my Masters and it's cost me £5200. My degrees is for backup, just incase the internet ever blew up. Watch Die Hard 4 (Imagine some hacker, sending us back to the stone age, where all information is lost) You always need a backup plan!

#

hmmmm... good point. It gives you that leverage.

[sbp8610]

I would say it depends on what you wanna do for the rest of your life. I know that I'm going to be doing Internet Marketing for the rest of my life so I dropped out of school to pursue it full time and have never looked back... I love it. But I know it's what I wanna be doing for the next couple decades as my full time job.

-Scott

[Daniel E Taylor]

It's funny when people always try to tell someone else that
"You shoud go to college"... or the opposite "You shouldn't go to
college".

I will tell you this... I don't have a college education, and I'm successful
at internet marketing.

But it took years to be successful for me. And when times got hard, and
my internet marketing was failing the only job I could get was washing dishes
and I lived in a HOSTEL.

A college degree sure wouldn't have hurt then. But heh. I aint complaining.

Follow your heart. It's your life.

And screw all the "Safe" talk. Life was never meant to be lived safe.

That's the way they program people to be freakin robots and work
their whole lives at a job they hate. It's sad people WASTE their whole
lives and never really lived.

Oh but wait... At least they were "SAFE"... And fit into the role that
everyone else said they should have. Even if it didn't make them happy.

Moral of story, follow your heart, do what makes you happy... And don't
listen to anyone who tells you different. And if they do tell them
live their own damn life and let you live yours.

Daniel