5 Years Of Internet Marketing - Here's My Advice For Beginners

I've been involved in the "internet marketing" space since October 2008, this month marks 5 years since first getting involved. I don't post much here anymore, as I'm busy with projects and servicing clients - however I wanted to post this thread as a way of giving newbies an insight into my head - after 5 years and thousands of hours worth of invested time, money and efforts.

Here they are in no particular order.

1. Quit f*cking around selling crappy $27 ebooks. This is NOT a business and you know it isn't.

2. Deal with ESTABLISHED business owners that are ALREADY making money - not aspirational types that are "just starting", or "dream about making money". Work with established professionals with marketing budgets.

3. Build a real business - quit chasing the dream. Sitting around making $5,000 a day in your pyjamas is a myth. Sure, there might be a handful of people doing it, but the failure rates in this industry are MASSIVE.

4. Failure rates in this space are huge - 95% and higher.

5. Offer services - then start selling info products. What does this mean? It means you need to do WHAT IS GOING TO MAKE YOU MONEY NOW. The quickest way to make this happen is to start selling services. Services put money in the bank NOW. Sales from your $7 ebook about knitting boots for kittens wont.

6. Think long term. One of the biggest mistakes I made in this industry was "constantly starting". "Wait, I've got an idea for ...blah blah blah". Forgeddit. If you're constantly telling yourself this - you're a GONER.

7. If you can't explain to people what it is that you do - YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

8. Stop chasing instant riches. 99% of these fancy sales letters from those claiming to be making $100,000 a month, are people that live at home with their mom.

9. Info products can be profitable - but you MUST have an audience.

10. If you don't know EXACTLY who your audience is, you're a GONER. You need to be able to sit down and actually write down EXACTLY who the people are that your message is for. If you write down, "anyone that likes the colour blue", then forget it. You don't know what you're doing.

11. Get a mentor.

12. Quit buying bullshit products.

13. Quit being a cheapskate. "That guy wanted to charge me $1,000 per month for coaching, bugger that. I'll just read the Warrior Forum". Guess what, in 5 years time, you'll still be here trying to "figure it out"

14. Life is not easy.

15. You're going to lose a lot of money, unless you're smart and get a mentor.

16. Never give up, but don't be an idiot. If somethings not working, get over it. Let it go. Move on. Try something else, but don't "idea hop".

17. Stop trying to convince everyone around you that they should be doing what you do.

18. No one gives a shit about your website.

19. Be prepared to go to bed at night completely and utterly clueless about why "nothings working". But don't do this for years on end. GET A MENTOR.

20. If you're not investing into paid courses and mentorship, get a job. You're not serious.

21. Stop selling bullshit in health related niches. People that are suffering need help. They don't need your crappy $5 ebook about "How to cure cancer by eating these 5 weird foods".

22. Get off the forum and get to work.

23. Surround yourself with successful people.

24. When a successful person gives you advice, shut up and listen. Then get to work.

25. If you have any more than 2 websites, then you're wasting your time. Do one or two things EXTREMELY WELL. Not hundreds terribly.

26. Stop buying shitty domain names, that you'll never use.

27. If people around you are being effected by you not making money, then START OFFERING SERVICES NOW.

28. The basic fundamentals to succeed online I could tell you in 30 minutes, but it will cost you $1,000.

29. Do something online that you at least enjoy. No one wants to create content around a subject they hate.

30. Build an audience

31. Go where your audience already is.

32. Stop outsourcing if you don't know what you're doing. Build systems first, then understand the process THEN offload the work.

33. There are people on this forum that are fantastic and they will help you enormously, but there are also a lot of fakes and idiots that have NFI what they're doing. Pay attention.

34. Watch what they DO, not what they say.

35. The customer goes in the middle.

36. Get some business cards printed. Meet with clients.

37. If you're not selling $500 info products to your clients, then somethings wrong.

38. If you dont have a whiteboard, then GET ONE. NOW.

39. Stop writing shitty 400 word spun articles. Publish media rich content (videos, written content, podcasts, photos, illustrations, pdfs, software, guides, games, online tools etc)

40. Never write lists like this, unless you're actually IMPLEMENTING them and marking them off as you go.

41. Write down EXACTLY what you need to do the NIGHT BEFORE you go to bed.

42. If you're sitting at your computer for 15 hours a day, then chances are, you're wasting 13 of those hours. Get in, attack, then get out.

43. You will do your best (and clearest) thinking, AWAY from the computer.

44. People will steal your shit. Get over it. If you have built a community (following) it wont matter.

45. There are NO SHORTCUTS. Stop chasing them.

46. Stop trying to GAME GOOGLE. It will not work.

47. Focus on income that is a) scalable b) recurring c) both

48. Network often

49. Less is more

50. If you're saying to yourself "I want to make $10,000 a month, then you've just joined a long list of other people that are totally clueless". Concentrate on HELPING people. The money will naturally follow.

Off the top of my head.

Enjoy