Is IM really a career?

14 years ago

I think most people consider it as a side hobby/earner. I wouldn't put my eggs in one basket and rely full-time on my IM ventures. Hell.. I'd like to get outside of the house once in a while too

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martymmitcham 14 years ago

Genix,

I read through the threads on your topic of which career to chase and the longivity of Internet Marketing. Many of the Warriors have valid good points.

There are three brothers, one held a career in the military and two graduated college pretty much in the same manner you have. They now operate an Internet Marketing Business that is successful enough to support all three of them.

They have helped me through my trials with the business. I believe they can help you with both the website and internet marketing sides of the business. It doesn't cost anything to contact them and listen to the information they can provide based on your situation and the direction you wish to go. Their information is invaluable.
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theory expert

Banned 14 years ago

As long as there is something to be sold online then it is a career. Goods and services are sold online so it is a career.

Note: You can sell cars, minks, real estate online without physically seeing it(we call that affiliate marketing and in the offline world it's called brokering).

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Rob Maggs

14 years ago

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MISsupport 14 years ago

You could even sell SEO services to local business in addition of your IM later on. This way you don't put your eggs in the same basket and make business contacts too.

So, if for some unknown reason we get back to a more paper centric economy like an alien invasion, return to old non-tech ways or since 2012 is not far), then you will have contacts with those businesses. :p

Joking apart, those contacts might help you if you ever get tire of IM/SEO only. This old dog is still a puppy(too many newbies).
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- Kay King 14 years ago
  
  I think most people consider it as a side hobby/earner. I wouldn't put my eggs in one basket and rely full-time on my IM ventures.
  
  Who are "most people"? Many members here earn full time incomes with online businesses and have been doing so for years.
  
  The career is not really "internet marketing" - it's using internet marketing build your own solid business model. Internet marketing is a collection of skills and methods and info to apply to your own business building efforts.
  
  There are also many here who work their online business part-time because they like their offline careers.
  
  The "eggs/baskets" and "multiple streams of income" are popular terms with new marketers. However, first you have to get that one egg in your basket and start that first trickle that turns into a stream!
  
  kay
  
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Owen Smith

14 years ago

Yup it can be, but make sure you have more than 1 income source, i.e do not rely on adsense, rely on adsense, clickbank and CPA offers.

@moonfish, you live not far from me, I am from Abergele.

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

It's been a career for me for around 11 years.

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MilesT 14 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

It's been a career for me for around 11 years.

Ditto. And it will only get better.
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- Brandon Ellis 14 years ago
  
  If you love it then you can make it work bro. Im hasn't been around for ever but I-(M) Marketing has. Yea it's going to change rapidly as everything good does. You just have to change with it. It's definitely not the norm way to a lot of people to make a living but who says they are right? Fortunes are being made online and will BE made online. Go out and getcha some!!
  
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- Brandon Ellis 14 years ago
  
  @MilesT Double Ditto.
  
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David Jackson

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GENIX

Hey fellow warriors!
I was just wondering for the past few days if I could rely on internet marketing as a career. I just finished college and started to see nice results from IM. I know that I could be succesful in this business now but is this really a career?

Whether or not IM is a career depends entirely on you. For me, IM is definitely a career. It's my livelihood. But like any career, it requires committment, dedication and hard work in order to be successful.

David Jackson

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Barry Unruh

14 years ago

Take the I out of IM and you know your answer. Marketing has always been, and always will be a career, the landscape just changes.

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Alexa Smith

Banned 14 years ago

Maybe it's only a semantic point, but to me it's always a "business" rather than a "career": from my perspective it's a way of potentially avoiding a career.

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DireStraits

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Maybe it's only a semantic point, but to me it's always a "business" rather than a "career": from my perspective it's a way of potentially avoiding a career.

I'll second that!

I remember in high school (only 7 years ago), I stumbled onto the business of providing web hosting, and immediately saw the potential the internet offered me to earn good money and be my own "master", without having to endure the grinding, negative (or at least that's how I felt about them) aspects of working under someone else.

At first it was a novelty; I just wanted to see how far I could take it until I attended college, university (or as I was thinking at the time, getting an engineering apprenticeship) and then hopefully kickstarting my career.

When getting out of that business after 2-3 years however, I felt like it'd well and truly spoiled me. Why would I want to go back to working (and for the biggest portion of my life - living) under someone elses rules, knowing my income was going to be pretty much capped (besides a small, infrequent pay rise: more to keep in line with inflation rather than an actual reward for my contributions to the company)? I didn't want to have to go to work every day and endure the inner turmoil I'd feel that would arise out of a lack of willingness to sit back and succumb to the authority of others whose ideas and metholodologies I often felt opposed to.

Why do that when I could be working for myself, on my own terms, with no upper limit to what I could potentially earn, and feel a hell of a lot more fulfilled in my achievements and the ongoing progress I'd make?

These days - pompous though it may sound to some - most jobs just seem like a bad deal. Why put all that effort into forging a career and being at the mercy of others for a promotion and/or pay-rise, when I have no need to?

The web is truly a gift for those who recognise and take action on the opportunities it has opened up.

Those who treat their online endeavours seriously, as a business, will be left with little choice but to recognise it for its virtually infinite potential, and they will be rewarded handsomely. Conversely, those who don't will probably never be able to effectively harness and leverage the boundless opportunities sitting literally at their fingertips.

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David Jackson 14 years ago

Originally Posted by KansasDragon

Take the I out of IM and you know your answer. Marketing has always been, and always will be a career, the landscape just changes.

That's a great point, and an amazingly refreshing way to look at it!

David Jackson
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- GENIX 14 years ago
  
  Thank you all for your insight!
  I was asking this because IM hasn't been around for that long..I don't know how many are actually in this business for more than say 10 years. I agree it's not a plyground, it requires great skills you develop in time and functions like a real business but sometimes I just wonder if there's ever going to be an end to making money online, because it's too good to be true frankly.
  
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tpw

14 years ago

If you know what you are doing and you are successful, it can be a career...

But you should never call it a career if you are not making the money from it, because it is a tough road to haul, and it can potentially wipe out any person who overestimates his or her talent....

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GENIX

14 years ago

Originally Posted by tpw

If you know what you are doing and you are successful, it can be a career...

But you should never call it a career if you are not making the money from it, because it is a tough road to haul, and it can potentially wipe out any person who overestimates his or her talent....

I would gladly do this for the rest of my life because I absolutely love it. I enjoy the freedom it gives me and when you do something you actually like it's nearly impossible not to be successful. The college I graduated combines economics with programming and computer skills and this is probably the best way I could use my knowledge. I just sometimes have a strange feeling that it's not something stable and reliable, even though it can bring me more money than any other job.

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tpw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by GENIX

I would gladly do this for the rest of my life because I absolutely love it. I enjoy the freedom it gives me and when you do something you actually like it's nearly impossible not to be successful. The college I graduated combines economics with programming and computer skills and this is probably the best way I could use my knowledge. I just sometimes have a strange feeling that it's not something stable and reliable, even though it can bring me more money than any other job.

My wife hates it because it is an up-and-down roller coaster on the income front...

But at the end of the year, when I do my taxes, she has to admit that I was right not getting a job, because I earn more than my dad and my mom combined, and more than her mom and dad combined...

p.s. I agree that if you are a programmer and a marketer too that you stand a better chance than most... There are some really talented programmers who do not make a lot of money because they don't know how to market... And there are some really talented marketers who have to spend ungodly amounts of money to get apps programmed, because they don't know what they should be paying for the assigned work... When you have the combined talents of a programmer who understands marketing, you are better prepared to make a living online than most...

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ukcarl

14 years ago

I class it as my career earnings can be up and down but they tend to be down when I am more lazy. Think about it this way if you have a large email list of thousands in an evergreen niche they are yours for life, if you treat them well that is, Which can mean constant monthly income month after month year after year

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mt33

14 years ago

internet marketing is a career even there are a lot of career about it. like start own business and so on. but if you want to work full time , in my opinion it has more income than offline marketing. you can make money a lot. it depends on your skills and talent so this career can be for you also can work as full time. the most famous is affiliate marketing , direct selling , google adsense, they are top online businesses

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NicheMayhem 14 years ago

I tend to feel the word "career" is more of an adjective then a noun. A career is usually associated with specialized skills and IM definitely fits that description 100%.

One thing to keep in mind though, it's not for everyone. Those who are able to utilize what they know, learn what they need to and are capable of, plus acquire a reliable source of what they must have but cannot produce alone will have little trouble making it work for them. Making it big really does rely on a little luck with dedication as a close second but comfortable reliable living is easily attainable once you apply yourself in the right direction and learn to rinse and repeat.

No other business, that I know of, can be supplemented with a few hours work in a different direction like IM can. If you see a slump in sales you have tons of options and new avenues to take which can easily put you back on top of your income needs. A tire salesman doesn't have as many options as we do but yet he is in a more traditional career which is much tougher to sustain. It's all about personal perception and mindset, IMO.

Entrepreneurs existed 15 years ago just as they do today, IM is the modern entrepreneur world and once you cross that invisible line from venture to business you can definitely make a career of it.

There are risks involved in everything we do, even walking out the front door to go to work in a traditional job involves risk but success follows the bold so I say we are all lucky to have the IM opportunity and it is very worth it to pursue.
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steve48135

14 years ago

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

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GENIX 14 years ago

Originally Posted by steve48135

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

Why do you say so? Why would they shut legit marketing businesses down? I expect some changes in the future but many comapanies advertise on the internet now so why couldn't we still make money based on tangible products we promote for example? There will probably take some action against digital products but I don't think the future is that dark for us.
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- steve48135 14 years ago
  
  GENIX, It's just some news I heard floating around from a pretty good source. I'm not saying they will completely shut everything down, I don't think they can. They tried shutting file sharing down and look how that went
  
  However with the amount of money being made so easily and some of it going unclaimed it's easy to imagine much tighter restrictions being placed on thing's. Making it impossible for "newbie's" to even get a start. I don't know why but governments don't like when money is made easily and in large amounts and your business is registered in Nevada because of tax reasons lol.
  
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terryrayburn 14 years ago

Originally Posted by steve48135

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

Your view is as old as pessimistic man himself.

You can substitute "the FTC" and "IM cash cow" respectively as follows:

"King" "bow and arrow"

"Police" "horseless carriage"

"Government" "flying machine"

Etc.
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NicheMayhem 14 years ago

Originally Posted by steve48135

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

I think this is a common misconception. There most likely are restrictions coming, but those restrictions will (hopefully) be leaning towards the free roam of rampant pirating rather then the legitimate working people who are literally the life-source of the internet.

I think IM and offline business will simply continue to increasingly become one. The internet is a superb source for consumers to compare prices and selectively shop. Radio beget TV and TV beget the internet while all are continually driven by advertising. The appeal of internet advertising is doing nothing but growing ever stronger, I highly doubt it is going anywhere which always will leave room for digital products and learning. The information age is actually pretty awesome if you compare it to even 20 years ago, we all just take it for granted.

A licensed business though, yeah I see that requirement coming but really what is so wrong about that? All other businesses require licenses and it isn't as hard to get one as people think it is. Could possibly bring more legitimacy to the industry if you think about it, and to me that would be a very good thing. Could also weed out the wannabes and scammers giving much more need for credibility and transparency.
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TheRetiredBuilder 14 years ago

Originally Posted by steve48135

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

Horse Mess!!

Believe it or not the Internet is much bigger than get rich quick and weight loss scams
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Barry Unruh 14 years ago

Originally Posted by steve48135

We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)

That will be the same day they shut off politicians giving speeches, too. They blow more horse hockeys out of their mouth than internet marketers, and everyone knows it.

In reality, I do not care one iota if the FTC comes down hard on IM. They will come down hard on "false claims", not on people who are ethically serving their markets.

The people who are working to create relationships, value, and truly assist their market will thrive like never before, because it would mean the people littering the landscape would be the ones getting targeted.
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- Shaunman 14 years ago
  
  We've got maybe 10 years at best before the FTC comes down harder than ever and shuts this IM cash cow off. (10 years is a high estimate too)
  
  Next time you feel like this turn on the T.V. and watch some infomercials, or if you can afford it go to a seminar and listen to all the people trying to sell you information for $1,000s of dollars.
  
  The internet is just an extension of the real world. Most things that are done online are done offline as well and this has been going on for centuries.
  
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- steve48135 14 years ago
  
  I agree, but lets still hope or the best
  
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  GENIX 14 years ago
  
  The internet is here to stay and I see it's becoming the workplace for more and more people today. Despite this though, most people who don't have a clue about this still believe it's impossible to start a business and make money online. Hearing you work on the internet is quite a laughter for many, but in the end who has the fatter bank account?
  
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GENIX

14 years ago

Nice post DireStraits, I feel exactly the same way. I don't see myself caged into an office for the rest of my life with no substantial posibility of evolution. I truly believe the internet has the great potential of offering the financial freedom many dream of and that's why I say it's too good to be true. It became so huge I don't really see how it may ever come to an end now, it's an industry these days.
Oh no I forgot, 2012 is coming. Damn!

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Michael Franklin

14 years ago

Here's a good way to think about IM....

"It's not just a job, it's an adventure"

I was going to trademark this slogan, but it's already been taken!

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wilsonusman

14 years ago

I am not an expert to predict what's going to happen in 2,5,or 10 years but as long as there's someone online buying something you got a career in this business.

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Daniel Deegan

14 years ago

Focus most of your time and energy developing your marketing and business strategy skills. I'd also advise you continually develop your ability to effectively communicate in verbal and written forms. The internet side of this business will always change and thats part of the fun, profit potential and beauty of being an "internet marketer". However if you stick with the fundamentals you will almost always be able to adapt or even move to different marketing channels with much less effort then folks who are focused on the "internet" side of internet marketing...

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Pauline60

14 years ago

Yes I think it can be a career if you treat it as such. The way to make money in IM
will undoubtedly change over time but the way to make money in any business changes over time. The internet is here to stay though, and consumers are increasingly making their purchases online in preference to other ways. It can be a career because it is long term.

I had a career from age 17 to 40. I did ok and considering I am female, reached a relatively senior position. But in the end I hated it and walked away. A few years later I discovered IM and believe I have a new career - but this time I am in charge, not someone else.

I intend to teach what I learn to my children. I want them to go to college and have a career in their chosen field but I also want them to have an alternative source of income. I hope that this will enable them to follow what they really want to do instead of what pays best and to have something else to support themselves with should the need arise.

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Marian Berghes

14 years ago

Who knows what might happen in the future, but as long as you treat this as a business and develop some skills you will always have a way to make money.

PPC getting to expensive? There's a thing called direct mail that seems to be doing damn good even now, in these digital times.

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dndoseller

14 years ago

Sure and there are tons of IM jobs at companies too. Just search SEO and online marketing on monster.com.

Of course its way better to run your own sites and products.

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BSco

14 years ago

I'm currently at college and will be for another 4 years, I'm hoping to get this IM thing cracked and earn enough money to life off of. However, if that fails I will still have a degree to back me up if I ever needed a job, which is really important!

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imon32red 14 years ago

IM is my only income. In fact I make more with IM than some of the other careers that I have had in my life. IM is always changing and you have to be prepared for changes. The same goes for any offline job to though. Especially with today's international economy.
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KevL

14 years ago

It's a career if you're making money - if not, your unemployed!

What you're asking is a good question, many people get into web marketing & class themselves as full time WMers when they're making naff all money, I've done that myself , I've come to realise that I wasn't a career marketer at that stage - I was unemployed - there's a difference, The difference is whether or not you can pay the bills!

The thing is though - the web marketing skills we develop are very valuable - as long as you can continue to improve your skills, and keep making money - great. If ever you start to struggle & you need to think about getting a J.O.B , then consider using the web marketing skills you've developed - and go do this as a job.

There's no doubt web marketing is just going to keep growing, yes things change - but there will just be more & more people coming online, spending money online - doing practically everything online whether it's sat at a PC or on a smart phone or tablet, so web marketing will always be there.

Cheers

Kev

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Shaunman 14 years ago

I'd like to get outside of the house once in a while too

I remember that place is it still around?

Is IM really a career?

No it is not, it is a business. There is a difference between a career and a business. A career is where you are employed and do something that you love for the rest of your life. A business is something that you build yourself and hopefully lasts far longer then you do.

As far as I am concered businesses are special because they come from you. Careers are just jobs that you can stand going to over and over again.
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- GENIX 14 years ago
  
  It's true IM is actually more like a business than a career, but how many businesses are there that you can start with almost no money at all and grow it every month as much as you want with the sky beeing the limit? It's truly a life-changer and I wouldn't like doing anything else for the rest of my life if that would be possible. It's amazing what you can achieve in front of a laptop having all the freedom in the world.
  
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Charleskidd

14 years ago

Well I would say its a way of earning extra money depending on what resources you have. Then if it works out for then it could be a lifestyle.

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BA Wealth Team

14 years ago

Trust me IM has made more people millioniares then the UK job centre has put back into employment!

Go for gold

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GENIX

14 years ago

I am going for gold, and IM is my way. All these posts just make me want to work even harder for my goals.

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mnonline

14 years ago

It depends on how you think about Internet Marketing. If you treat it like a hobby then it is. If you treat it like a real business then it sure is too. The best thing about Internet Marketing is that it is less pressure than offline business. It may save you more time and less work. It can be operated automatically, which is the best. You can earn residual income, and much more. There are many benefits that offline business don't have.

I agree that the rules are changing, but we can also adapt to it also. Don't you think?

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Is IM really a career?

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