Internet Marketing... Another Reality Check (Skills That You NEED to Succeed!)

G'day from Australia Warriors...

It's great to see so many people having so much enthusiasm for starting their own online business.

...but there is one thing that worries me.

I'm constantly seeing people tell other people to "take action!" and to be honest - that's great advice.... with ONE fatal flaw.

To be able to "take action", you need the SKILLS required to follow through...

That's why I decided to make a thread to just be honest about the skills you need to succeed.

My own online journey wasn't an "easy" one.

About 5 years back, I used to live in New Zealand where I used to trade on an auction site. Back then, NZ'ers were paying premium prices for technology.

One day, it just "clicked" that maybe I could get gadgets and gizmos people want and sell it for slightly cheaper than retail.

So I went to Ebay, checked out stuff like cameras, phones, mp3 players and other products along that line....

Success!

I started to list them on our local trading site and occasionally pulled a few hundred buckaroonies a week.

Then I discovered the "internet marketing" community and the floodgates of opportunity had sprung wide open. I was AMAZED at the possibilities.

...but then I found that I HAD to learn tons of skills just to get things moving.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money and trust cheap freelancers (I couldn't afford professionals to do everything for me), and I wanted to profit IMMEDIATELY.

But in "reality", I knew it wasn't going to happen.

It became a painful, frustrating experience learning all that was required to truly make money online... everything from setting up a website, push through irritating little bugs that are BOUND to occur, and acquire the actual marketing skillset I have today...

I even quit at one point. I just couldn't handle all the information. But I persevered...

...Which allows me to "take action!" as so many people are quick to advise.

I don't mean to come down hard on people who are just trying to motivate, but let's be honest about what it REALLY takes (without having to spend thousands up front and have little control over how your business operates).

The fact is, you need to know your business inside out. And there is no better time to learn than RIGHT NOW.

You don't even have to know coding (I've avoided it until this very day), but there are so many tools that make all this much more accessable to everyday marketers.

With all that said, here are a few skills that have helped me IMMENSELY with my own online business...

• Learn Wordpress... hands down my best advice for struggling marketers. There are hundreds of thousands of wordpress users around the globe... and when you have a problem, a quick Google search can bring up tons of helpful advice. If it's unresolved, there are FORUMS you can go to ask your most idiotic questions.

Plus there are plugins to do virtually everything under the sun.

• RESEARCH skills... this ties into the above post. When you have a problem, learn to use Google and find the solution. Not only for techincal stuff (like troubleshooting), but also market research, skill learning, and discovering new tools you can use to improve your online business.

• Setting up hosting, installing scripts, FTP'ing, changing file permissions, transferring domains to your host etc. It SOUNDS difficult - but it's not. There are usually VIDEO tutorials to walk you through things like this (if your's doesn't, go to hostgator - they have them and it should be similar for most hosts)

• Looking for tools that you need for the MOMENT... not what you WILL need. It's tempting to load up your bookmarks with tons of things you are going to do - but that's a surefire way to get information overload.

• PLANNING... some say that 1 hour of PLANNING is equal to 3 hours of unplanned work. I don't know how true that is, but I know it's worked damn well for me these last few years. Get your business plan on PAPER and follow through with laser like focus. Sit down for a few days and focus solely on the PLANNING of your online business.

I took some time out to write this on the fly - and I know that there are other things I'm missing like SEO, keyword research, and the plethora of sub-topics that come under them.

If you have some time, please feel free to share, and maybe we can make this a bit more comprehensive post.

All the best!

Dean