Dear Noobs... (plus: Why I love IM)

[SteelDanno]

Dear noobs,

We're all new at some point and it's a great thing :-)

I remember learning so much so fast when I first got into IM. It was awesome ... new ground and new territory to explore everywhere! Now, it's rare to find one new nugget of knowledge ... to find something I don't already know. I'm not trying to come off like some know-it-all, it's just that when you spend enough time learning IM (and I guess anything), you hit a saturation point and the occasions when you learn something truly new and valuable gets further and further apart.

So to the beginners out there: hang in there and stay strong. Soak up as much as you can. If you are persistent you will get everything you want from IM.

There is nothing like IM on the planet. No other field lets you start a business for so little cash and to start experimenting, learning, growing. No other field lets you make money from obscure niche markets like teaching your parrot how to talk (Kern) or selling green socks (Vanerchuck) or digital baby thermometers (nichemarketninja) or whatever!

It doesn't really matter what niche you go for. Or whether you use articles, PPC, organic SEO, build membership sites, CPA offers, Ebay Partner, Amazon affiliates, Clickbank products, list building, link building, use Wordpress or Joomla or whatever! Because if you are serious about changing your life with IM you will eventually learn ALL of this to some degree and only you can decide which mechanism(s) are the best to apply to your sites.

Over time you become like a chef in kitchen who cooks with his gut and decides ... "Hmmm yeah, I think a pinch of Articles submitted to EZA along with some backlinks from Angelas Backlink packets would do nicely to boost SEO ranking on that long tail keyword I'm after."

As far as resources go ... This forum alone is incredible and you could literally learn everything you need here, for free, in order to create a site that makes you $100-$500 a month. And if you can make one site that does that, you can make as many as you're willing to.

Which gets me to why I love (LOVE) Internet Marketing...

Once I learned to create a small site that makes $100-$500 a month ($1200 to $6000 year) I move on and use the the same tactics to create another one ... and another one ... and another one.

Each site I build I apply new won knowledge and improve the offering.

And that's why I love IM. These little sites keep on paying month after month for very little ongoing input and maintenance. They are like micro-cash machines that will trickle in moola for years to come (perhaps decades).

If you are struggling ... I can only say this ...

Just keep at it.
Turn off the TV and instant messengers and other distractions when you can.
Take action regularly: small consistent, incremental action ("...baby steps..." - What About Bob) is enough to get you some victories.
Those little victories will give you steam to go onto bigger and better victories.
And so on.

Lastly, be patient.

Think of IM as a game of base hits rather than looking for a home run. For most of us, it's way easier to get to first base twenty times than it is to hit a home run once ;-). At least it was for me.

Cheers and good luck.

[Shlomi Khutoretsky]

Nice post, thank you.

[Paul Davidson]

A great post, your words are encouraging, and yes this Forum is THE resource for all things IM related.

Many thanks, a very porsitive post!

Paul

[pharris1]

That's an encouraging post. I've been at this for a short 1 year - learned alot but haven't been able to generate steady cash. Just a few sales here and there. Enough to wet my whistle and keep me interested. I know this can work. I guess I have been guilty of "program jumping." I think I need to ignore all the marketing stuff coming to my inbox and just focus on the core basics until I get it right - then keep doing it over and over.

Can I ask how you started? Article mkt'ing, PPC, etc?
How long have you been IM'ing?
Are you reaching your financial goals?

Thanks again.

Peter

[aneel90]

Really great post, very encouraging stuff... I love IM for so many reasons

[BloomerBeak]

Great advice! Thanks!

Turn off the TV

I remember reading an article just recently. It said something about how getting away from TV made him quit his job and be a successful IM'er. Point taken..

[marketing1012]

Yeah man sick post, get over the first hurdle and trust me the grass is green.

[Freemeup]

Thanks dude, swimming through this ocean of information is mind boggling. Nice post, printed it out and going to use it as a motivator to keep at it.

[Saidar]

Thanks for the the message I needed that

[Paul Buckley]

Well put

[SteelDanno]

No problem, thanks to you and everyone for their kind words.

Originally Posted by pharris1

That's an encouraging post. I've been at this for a short 1 year - learned alot but haven't been able to generate steady cash. Just a few sales here and there. Enough to wet my whistle and keep me interested. I know this can work. I guess I have been guilty of "program jumping." I think I need to ignore all the marketing stuff coming to my inbox and just focus on the core basics until I get it right - then keep doing it over and over.

"Program Jumping" as you call it is wonderful if you ask me. I mean, yeah at some point it's time to focus on something ... however, it's great way to explore the landscape IMO. I mean, what a fantastic way to sample all the treats in the IM world and learn a TON of new stuff while you are at it.

If you are like me, then at some point a lil ping will go off in your brainskull and some formula, some method, some technique will resonate with you and ... you'll execute it. And when you do, you'll be bringing all that program jumping knowledge/experience you now have.

Some people call it Analysis Paralysis. We're all prone to continually learning and discovering rather than (and often as an excuse for not) doing anything.

Then again, we all know when we're treading water as an excuse not to work ... we can't fool ourselves for too long before it's just time to do something actionable :-)

Speaking of ... time for me to put in a shift here so I will wrap this up.

One of the best tips I ever came across (and I cannot remember where) was something like ...

"When you are putting off doing any work because it seems daunting, just make a deal with yourself to put in five minutes work. Just give it a try for five measly minutes."

The premise being that more often than not, that five minutes is enough to get the wheels rolling -- and next thing you know, you're in a really positive and productive groove.

Originally Posted by pharris1

Can I ask how you started? Article mkt'ing, PPC, etc?
How long have you been IM'ing?
Are you reaching your financial goals?

Sounds like I started off much like you ... jumping around and checking out the lay of the land. I've been a rabid web geek for 11+ years and nope ... I haven't reached my financial goals.

Then again, the island I want isn't cheap ;-)

Cheers.

[StageREM]

Sometimes I need a reminder....and then a post like yours reminds me this is a new adventure that takes time, hard work and trial and error thanks for the inspiration...

[Todd Pedersen]

I though I would give this thread some inspiration by pointing out that my first venture into IM is now making $200-300/mo. It is in the stock market niche and is a blogspot blog with about 5-6 web 2.0 properties pointing to it. Action is the key.

[SteelDanno]

Originally Posted by Hoops4me

Action is the key.

Totally. Utterly. Absolutely.

Go do, now! :-D

[Nathan Denton]

Hey,

Great tips in the post. It is very important for those just starting out to stay determined and focussed on their goal to achieving goals online. You will get there with small steps and continuously updated your knowledge and applying it to new projects.

[juzanobo]

Thanks for this wonderful tips.

[terit]

Hi,

Thanks for the encouragement to the noobs, some great advice.

[SteelDanno]

No problem. I hope this helps some fellow Warriors out there.