What made you start Internet Marketing?

Glass-ceiling, low-respect, soul-sucking jobs made me start internet marketing. Glad to hear it's been working out for you.

About 5 years ago, I realized I'd like to not have a 9-6 job if possible... I'd rather be able to be flexible in when I wake up and work, and if possible, if I have to work at all (have the option of retiring early if possible). That is why I started trying to earn money online.

Being quite young, I've realised that my chances of succeeding are sky-high compared to others who may be 10 or 20 years older and have mortgages and bills to pay.

I figured, "why not?"

Also - the thought of being 'self-made' and free (in a world where greed is dominant) makes me feel at peace.

I wasn't put on this earth to work and work and work. I'm here to explore, learn and appreciate what little time I actually have here.

I was working the 9-5 (well many more hours really!) in the UK then my husband and I moved to live on a Greek island so decided I wanted to work from home and make money online.
It's been a long hard journey but it is so worth it, I sit here at my desk and have views of the ocean and mountains, I love it!

I got into internet marketing because of my confidence in excelling. (dont take it as an overconfident statement). It took me 4 months to learn and I have started seeing an income above $3000 a month now. Moving towards $10k mark.

9 to 5 is not a life. It is slavery.

About 2 years ago, I was only using the internet to active in the local online community. Accidentally, I know the Internet Marketing from my father. But actually, he is not an internet marketer.

He told me about this thing and I just jumped in to it because it is interesting. I searched for local internet marketing community and learned many things from there. I jumped in to Internet Marketing because I just love it! I really like to feel new experiences in my life.

And yeah, I am not full internet marketer, since I am just a student in Senior High School. But, I really want to be full internet marketer in the future.

What made me start internet marketing when I first had a job during my teenage years. The 9-5 job really sucks, so this is why I am self-searching for something that could get me out of this. Even though I hate the 9-5 job, I truly respect it due to the money we need. As a result, I am a full-time IMer right now and never go back to the exhausting job again.

I was an offline entrepreneur and copywriter, and I took it to task to "learn the Interwebs" and I did. Voila. This is an interested thread to peruse. Glad we're all "together" at the WF.

I definitely see a ton of potential in being able to make very good money online so that idea alone keeps me motivated enough to stick to it, but just like everyone else in the thread said ... a 9-5 job just isn't the business.

My boy friend who is so passionate about internet marketing I start learning im from him and find out i have the same passion

I got sucked into MLM by a so-called friend who turned out to be a complete charlatan (and still is). In my attempt to find leads I discovered that the top guys seemed to be recruiting without selling to their family and friends using the internet.

Those horrible looking, scammy like websites with bold, read headlines and yellow highlighted text

The way it works. From the first day I heard about IM, I knew it was something for me. Self-employed, working on your own, considerable low investment at the beginning, little expenses when running the business...

This all sounded like a new age business. Since I'm quite young, I just knew it was for me.

I see my friend is earning $100 with adsense every year doing nothing

These are awesome responses!

it's the Internet Lifestyle that I'm after, location freedom, time freedom...and of course $$$$$

Internet marketing gives me freedom to do what I need in my life.

Freedom is first and foremost the greatest benefit...

Sense of community within the IM market... good people.

Infinite income potential.

The ability to work from anywhere in the world.

That's a good question really.

In 1997 or 98 my girlfriend at the time was given an art college project... to build a web page. She didn't know what to do, so I learnt a bit of HTML to help her... and found I really enjoyed it.

Spent the next couple of years teaching myself basic programming, SEO, photoshop, Flash and somehow landed a corporate job doing web design and SEO, which was nice for a while.

I was semi-retired, had sold all my previous offline businesses years ago and was kind of challenged, interested, wanted to do something other than just investing but didn't want to start another business with high overhead, a store front, and employees.

(I used to say retired but several of my other business friends said I was too active in business networks helping new business owners to claim to be retired so started saying semi-retired. ;-) )

I also wanted to do something that didn't restrict my semi-retirement life style of traveling and time freedom.

Great responses guys and girls. I enjoy reading these!

I want to tell truth about me i really don't like job- i want to start my business online and want to spend time with family

Money for nuffin and yer chicks for free.

My Ambition To Become a Self made Businessman Made Me To Enter The Awesome Industry of Internet Marketing.

Tired of making other people money when I could have been doing the same things for myself to make myself money.

And the eventual goal of freedom!

Entrepreneurship with a low barrier of entry.

9 - 5 job sucks & I don't want to depend on my boss for a living.

I've always liked web designing, then I came across SEO. I realized I would have to learn some basic SEO skills in order to promote a website, so I learned that. I was then opened up to a whole new world. I've always been into making money online and so I decided that there's no harm in trying out Internet marketing, so I went for it after reading loads of success stories on various forums and blogs.

What made you start Internet Marketing?

In one word: Freedom!

So I could spend more time at home. Of course I spend more time actually working, but it's on my terms so totally worth it.

Got tired of working to make other people more money.

I'm the same way...I figured out pretty early on that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life working for the "man." I also really enjoy marketing as a whole, that's probably why I also have my degree in it ha.

For me it is the ability to generate income passively, from anywhere that I can take my laptop! Priceless.

Same as you. I got to the point that I couldn't stand working for some one else. Actually my last boss was the best I'd every had at a job, it was just the idea that I had to work when some one else told me to, paid what they wanted to pay me.

Got tired of working holidays, missing family stuff and the paycheck wasn't going to get much bigger any time soon.

Got to a tipping point that pushed me to make the online thing successful. Worked for me.

For me it was because I was working as a manager 7 days a week almost without fail, I quite honestly had no life other than working for someone else. Did take me 12 months to learn the ropes with what time I had, but eventually broke free from it all.

I already was involved in making money online back in 1995 as a porn affiliate. Spent about 4-5 years in that industry, which was basically the boom of it during that time period. Then around 2000-2001 moved into learning Internet Marketing.

Been doing it ever sense and will never go back to working a 9-5 again.

I just wanted to be my own boss and perhaps make some residual income.

Desire to be financially free, be my own boss and innovate.

The desire to NEVER WORK FOR SOMEONE!

I got into interent marketing purely by accident. But I saw the potential immedietly and worked relentlessly for three years while I held a full tim job, before finally escaping my 9-5 and I have never looked back since! Life, as an internet marketer, is good.

I dabbled with IM for more than two years. Buying course after course, trying this and trying that. I never gave it an honest try though and treated it like 90% of people out there... like it was some magical push button cash system or something. That by simply putting up a website, I would instantly become rich beyond my wildest dreams. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I am a full-time internet marketer now and have multiple sites working for me. What pushed me over the edge? Unemployment. Once I became one of the over qualified, too much experience to be affordable for employment individuals, I became unemployed and figured, either I'm gong to work my butt off to make this work or I'll end up stocking shelves at Walmart for the rest of my life.

I didn't take IM serious until I was forced to make it work. Then I learned that it is a REAL business that can make you REAL money. But you have to work your hind end off and produce above average results in order to make anything at it.

I'm happier now and don't miss the cubical days with an idiot telling me to do something that I knew was a waste of my time in order to get a check every two weeks. Being told when i could eat and when I couldn't. That seems more like something I read in a George Orwell book. OH YEA, it WAS!!! 1984!!! LOL

Internet marketing is a tough business if you don't know what you're doing, but it provides more benefits than the money. It provides freedom.

All the best.

to escape the rat-race 9-5, working for someone else and making them richer while you only receive a small pay cheque.... & Finding freedom of time and choice of being your own boss.

Got tired of going to school for something I was good at but never really liked to do

Originally because of the relatively lower start-up costs compared to starting a brick-and-mortar business. IM is one those things where research, creativity and taking action can make you money even if you have few funds to start off with. Plus I love the part of my income that is on auto-pilot

I enjoy making money on top of my other job...You can never have enough money this day and age!

I wanted another source of income while traveling.

i have had million dollar offline businesses but the bigger the business, the more I worked. I have 5 kids so I wanted to be around and see them grow up. Work my hours and alos the other main reason is, I love it. its constantly changing and great fun.

i have had a number of million dollar offline businesses but the bigger the business, the more I worked. I have 5 kids so I wanted to be around and see them grow up. Work my hours and also the other main reason is, I love it. its constantly changing and great fun.

For me was the excitement of creating online stores. Afterwards, I realized it was easier to make money in affiliate marketing. So, I closed my online stores and dived deep into AM and never looked back.

I want to be my boss, free time, free to go anywhere, financial freedom.. lots of reasons I can't mention..

Same thing, plus having to wake up at 6am in the morning everyday.

I used to play poker online, then one day looking for bonuses, found a affiliate site, and got the idea from there to promote online poker. It was back in 2005. Since then working online full time.

Job Redundancy - and at my age and current state of health a feeling that it was the last chance saloon to do something drastic that would set me up for the future.

Yawwwwn.. (stretch) ah just woke up. :]

New here (to posting at least), jumping into the whole IM scene because it's one of the most interesting things I've tried. Currently doing a lot of reading and experimenting whenever I don't have any work to do.

It seems the desire to have FREEDOM is a recurring theme for all Internet marketers. I also found that living in a rural area with a small population helped my decision as few money making opertunities are available.

I wasn't really sick of my 9 to 5 jobs. I like many other people, wanted to not have to worry about when the next paycheck was gonna come in so I could pay the bills. It just sucks having to worry all the time, thinking you are gonna be late on this bill or that bill or if your car breaks down you don't have money to fix it or things like that.

Though I actually like working physically out side of the house, which is why I still work at both my day jobs even though I really don't need to anymore.

I would think for most of us it comes down to wanting to live a little easier, without too much financial worries (I mean, we already have so many worries in our lives that it would be nice to have one less thing to worry about).

I kind of got forced into internet marketing. I hated my job... or they hated me.. Either way, I was fired and walked out that place with a smile on my face.. My co-workers thought I was loony.. I was thinking "if only you knew what I know"

I made my mind from that moment that I would never work another job again.. Didn't' care what the outcome was...

While I don't make as much as I want to, i live off my internet money...

Still have that same mindset.. Started selling stuff online and then realized, to sell stuff, i have to learn how to sell.. Started paying attention to what other IMs were doing, read some books on sells and marketing and here I am.. Almost 2 years and no job...

Congrats to everyone on here.. We Rock!!!

Challenging myself to work in a forever changing platform that is the internet, I had an 8-5 job when I was 19 and 20... hated it and it bored the hell out of me. I think that having your own business is a true representation of the type of person you become and I've always strived to be better, work hard and enjoy life they way we are meant to enjoy it. (of course it wasnt and isnt always easy but nothing beats being in business for yourself)

A flame war about a cancelled television show. I decided to track down the troll, and found out that he or she was using the provocative posts to drive traffic to a blog about making money on the web. This was back in the days when Ebay affiliates with BANS sites were killing it, before Ebay decided to shut off the money faucet.

Wanting to be in control of my own life, business and working hours. Plus I really enjoy working online, and I love seeing how others are doing, and constantly learning and progressing.

Plus at the age of 21 and having studied music most of my life, it was always going to be tough getting a career in that field. IM is my only other real passion, and the fact that it pays, is just lovely

I really don't remember when or how I started internet marketing but I guess I was infected with the idea of making money online by a spam email when I was at the uni in around 2002. Back then, I didn't even know the term "internet marketing". That was the glorious times for data-entry scams and the rise of all that paid-to-click stuff.

I was busy with my education but I had to give it a try and I purchased a product pack about posting ads on classified sites. I really don't remember what it was really about but what I remember is that although I did exactly what was told in the instructions, I didn't make any money and hence I quickly forgot about making money online until 2008, when I got another spam email about making money online and this time everything was different and I decided to follow this route.

The first two years, I was busy with overloading my brain with information and doing nonproductive actions but then I started to read less and do more in time.

A spam email made me start internet marketing but what makes me stay is the freedom.

I've been running my own business since 1986, whether full-time or as a sideline to my "day job," so it was just a natural outgrowth of what I did anyway. Most of the internet-ness of my business right now is a response to hardships that have rendered most offline brick-and-mortar efforts unavailable.

Got tired of putting up with BS from idiots and trading hours for dollars.

Freedom! I love the fact that you can work anywhere you want in IM

I want to be able to stay home with my kiddo.

I got involved with online marketing to have the choice of hours I work,the opportunity to make more money, and to have more time with my family.

I used to work for the largest company in the world (oil) and was on a good salary $40k a year but the job sucked. It was my first and last ever job, I quit, started my internet business and have never looked back. Been a helluva ride and I've been able to achieve my goal of millionaire status which is something that would never have happened in employment that's for sure! :-)

Freelancing and the fact that my dad always told me to be my own boss

Now I'm 20, I've been doing this for quite some time and never ever had a real job

While most work 9 to 5 and hate their job. For me I hate my 3 shift long hour job. That my reason.

I don't have a fancy answer to this. I needed cash.

I needed extra money, so I started a website as an advertiser bait while I'm working a "you belong to us 24/7" job in major media. By the way, I was in love with the job. You know, love is blindness. It's something like Stockholm Syndrome I guess lol

Anyways... When I lost my job to infamous 2008 recession, I started my own business and decided to use internet as my number one weapon as it's the most inexpensive way of marketing. Then I realized the other big benefits of internet marketing, besides it's being inexpensive.

I'm thankful for it.

I had a failed venture which resulted me having a huge Debt. This has made me venture into internet marketing. I am glad I have made the right decision.