Newbie trying looking to make modest online income

Originally Posted by Jassen

I'd highly suggest putting aside the notion of making money immediately. There is no "get rich quick" magic pill.

Instead, do all the due diligence and proper planning that anybody starting a business should do. The preparation you put into starting any sort of real online business is the exact same preparation you would do if you were to open any other kind of business, such as a restaurant or retail shop of some sort.

"Internet marketing" in and of itself isn't a a business. The Internet is nothing more than a marketing medium, in the same way that radio, television, direct mail, and billboards are. The beauty of the Internet is that it's also a great way to deliver certain products and services, too, and the startup costs are cheap. Web hosting is far more affordable than renting space for that restaurant.

So, as when starting any kind of business, take the time to think about what kind of value you can bring to the marketplace. What are your skills, strengths, and weaknesses?

From this, you can narrow down into selecting a target market (niche), and find out what they already want that you can deliver, and that you'll enjoy working on for a long time. Think in years, not months.

From that, you'll get down into specific business models, which then finally leads you into the specific marketing tactics to make that business model churn.