How did you started your first IM project?

Opinions will vary widely.

IMO you should do some studying on your own first.

started it by learning how to write grammatically correct titles.

I started by educating myself.

I knew the areas (niches) I wanted to work in, so I examined the best online marketers in these areas, took the ideas I liked, reworked some of them, came up with new ones. Long time ago, but I imagine the same will still work now.

I started by educating myself and putting up a test site. I was working full time for someone else at the time so I spent time learning, testing things on the site and with list building without really having a business. It was like being in school - except that I wasn't paying anyone else for the education.

I didn't make much money, but over that period of time [which will vary depending upon how motivated to learn and earn you are!] I learned a LOT. I took all that and moved into my first business and then built up from there.

I'd think that by reading through the WF you'll get a good feel for the different types of things you can do. Use YouTube to get a better feel for what you might enjoy - for instance, if you want to do importing and resale you'll find people talking about that on YouTube. You don't want to use that as your only information - but a way to 'see' more about the business.

Decide on SOMETHING and then learn in earnest. Then DO SOMETHING. You have to take action. You will stumble, have challenges and come across obstacles. It's what you do when you stumble that will determine if you will succeed. Get up, wipe yourself off and learn from your mistakes.

There is no set path that you have to take or set amount of time you need to work out the process. You can be up and running with your chosen market in a week or 6 months. Your results will depend on your decisions.

I started by buying a bunch of products and attempting to take action without any sort of discipline. Basically I was trying to be the jack of all trades.

I think finding a mentor is a good idea, because you will have an easier time focusing on what he/she teaches instead of buying products from everyone and learning 100 different ways to do the same thing.

When I first started I bought a training program, just a little PDF and some video, I did exactly what it said and made money. I made my first sale in 3 days, made around $1,000 moy first week and $3,000 my first month.

then I took that money and started investing in better programs then when I started making decent money I started hiring mentors and coaches.

I would highly suggest getting a training program so you have guidance and follow it 100%, but just make sure it's from somebody who actually is doing what they are teaching, and not just making money selling the info

I started. That's it. Learn as you go. You seem like you are bogged down and thinking too much about how to start it, just start it!

I suggest to start learning from different internet marketing and webmaster forums before you start buying anything, once you know exactly what want to do and what you need to buy, you can go for it.

I recommend get a coach with a proven successful IM track record who will give you formal and structured coaching. Preferably a coach showing you how to create, promote and sell your own product. If you can make, promote and sell one product you can make many more.

Take action and start..

Make some research and studying and then start...

IMO a lot of people get stuck gathering information but lack taking action and that is a HUGE mistake.

You should start with self help IM niche ebooks and FREE training resources and then you can test some proven methods to make a real business online.

My most profitable websites are those that I started WITHOUT mentors, info-products and whatever else money-time vampire stuff out there

The hardest starts were those that were "according to the system".

Yet, I still don't know why I'm still buying "how to" guides that I rarely even read past page 10.

Here is an example of one of my successful start.

I knew a psychic girl who who had local clients. I decided to make her a website. I did a bit of marketing, all free, no "how to" guides. In about three months, that website was pulling more clients than she could serve.

Did I mention I set very expensive pries on the website, way more than competition charged?

I guess I followed intuition and action rather than someone's "religion" written to make money. Heck, I think I just figured some stuff myself!

I start by reading a lot of books. After that, you can get your own idea.

Originally Posted by Himanshu1988 I am new to IM & at this point I am clue less about IM as a whole. Should I invest in any tutorials ? Should I invest in a mentor? And I want to know your story, how did you stared . . .

I got started with Google Adwords and classified advertising in 2008

But after Google Slap in late 2009, I got to learn list building and besides classified advertising, I learn other ways to drive traffic like article marketing, blogging, directories, PDF submissions, press releases and video marketing.

In 2011, I got to learn niche marketing and since then, it has been my core business.

If you asked me which best courses, I recommend 4 which you can just pick one.

1. Mark Ling's AffiloBlueprint

2. Adam Short's Niche Profit Classroom

3. Andrew Hansen's Forever Affiliate and

4. Chris Guthrie's AmaSuite

From those courses, I got my first paychecks from Clickbank and now from Amazon.

Though there are other great courses like those from Anik Singal, Mike Filsaime, Omar Martin and Russell Brunson, these 4 are what I considered to be the best since they do what they teach and their strategies still work today.

I started by making every mistake in the book. I lost TONS of money. But never gave up. In the end, it's the ones who take defeat without giving up... the ones who learn from their mistakes and keep trying... the ones who keep one foot moving in front of the other... towards the ultimate destination... those are the folks that win.

Gary Halbert says, "progress comes through movement, not meditation".

So don't think too much. Just dive in. You're sure to make mistakes and course corrections. So really, it's not important where you start. Pick a direction that interests you and dive in.

Good luck to you. You could be the next Frank Kern. :-)

I have personally just been in forums, on major IM blogs, etc taking in as much information as possible. I am writing out some of my content, setting up a blog, and an email campaign manager. This will all launch at the end of the month. I am super excited. Before it launches I will also have myself set up on facebook and twitter minimally.

I am ok with starting slow, as this is a part-time venture, to work toward building when I am not working at my day job.

I just learned what all the successful IMers are doing and applied it for myself.

Start reading everything about marketing, not just IM, but all marketing. Then, implement what you learn (key word there is: Implement). Don't try to get everything perfect, otherwise you'll never start.

Also, I've taken IM to offline (like... I send real, in the mail, thank you letters to subscribers of my affiliate). It's just a way to set me apart from the crowd.

You can find a lot of good information for free. You dont have to invest in tutorials!
But a mentor will make you take take action. And thats when you really start seeing results.

If you're a long term newbie , get a Mentor and stick to what he tells you..

Go and find a mentor in your interested niche..

Thank you all for your valuable input.

I didn't use a mentor. I looked at what the competition in my niche were doing and set out to do things that bit better than them.

There are a lot of ways to get scammed when you're just starting out in the IM world. Don't go spending any money, just yet.

Learn all you can for free for now – read the threads on this forum, read articles, watch some video tutorials on YouTube and ask questions when you're unsure of something.

Don't get roped in to any "Make Money from Home" methods that you have to pay for, as most of them are regurgitated crap you can learn for free.

Once you become a bit more knowledgeable, you will be able to determine if a product is worth purchasing or not. Do yourself a favor and don't go shelling out your credit card number until you at least know the basics and have some experience under your belt.

In terms of a mentor, you'll never know who actually knows what they're talking about or not, so it's a big gamble. If they give you the wrong information, you're out money and have already started learning bad habits and the wrong ways to go about things.

Unless you want to receive mentoring from a big-name marketer who you're sure is knowledgeable, don't try it. And those guys charge big money, so that's not always an option.

Thank you so much everyone for your input.

Investing in tutorials! You can find alot of free info on youtube,
But many people dont really actually do the work.
Thats why sometimes you need a mentor, he will make you take action.

I started my first IM successful project this year.

30 days later.... how did all this information help you? Are you where you wanted to be? Why or why not? How could you get there in the next 30 days?

And to answer your original question, I got help from a friend to learn the technical stuff and choosing a niche. Then I kept creating content until it was making money, then I kept creating content.... because it was making money!