Do you guys actually enjoy it?

I have never been a good Internet marketer, just never understood organic SEO, I am awesome at local SEO but not the other one. And I am an awesome sales person, and I don't really like marketing, I'd rather provide design services and solutions.

For me I feel awesome when I take them from a look of a fat Houston mom to a hot and curvy Miami beach girl. Branding. And then I love how stupid they are to know the opportunities they are missing and how much expertise I have, so I do enjoy it a lot. And there is a lot of money to be made in offline world.

Seems to me you chose to hire the wrong customer profile. I would NEVER work with a business who's at the point of wanting my services because they are about to fail.

I too genuinely dislike the customer service aspect and that is an understatement. I take it as a necessary evil.

I can't think of any worthwhile profession that does not involve long hours to get at the top of the field. If it's not on the job itself, it's in university/apprenticeship.

Choices in life are simple.

Even Princes can get taken down by their underlings if they're not careful.

I agree, offline marketing is a lot of work, dealing with small business owners on a regular basis is a tremendous pain which I don't particularly enjoy. It does, however, provide for a quick way to start making an income online.

The best way is to start building and ranking websites while generating an income from it so that one day, all income will be produced by those sites rendering offline marketing unecessary; that's when the real IM lifestyle kicks in. At least that's my plan.

Offline marketing is definitely not my passion nor is it my "calling", so to speak. But I'm successful at it and it's something that will allow me to do great things with my life. I don't necessarily hate it, but it's work for me and it's not always the most fun. I take pride in my victories though (ex. closing a sale) and those moments are always rewarding.

As long as offline marketing remains competitive, unpredictable, and rewarding, I don't see myself stopping. The money and potential is solid, and best of all I can do it alongside my schooling (at least to some capacity!).

I don't always enjoy the work that I do, but I appreciate it.

If it got to that point I could see hiring a VA. A few friends of mine who do something similar they are computer consultants. They train the clients to use email and don't even respond to phone calls or nagging. I know it's harsh to say you "train" your clients but I have had clients call be at 10pm before simply because they thought they had access like that.

If I could figure out how to do the IM part successfully,YES I would be happy doing it. Then again, the hunt is fun too.

I absolutely love my clients. I absolutely love the work I do for them.

If someone doesn't feel that way about what they are doing, they should change.

You only get one life.

Taking on a business that is about to fail or is looking to Internet Marketing as a last ditch effort to make money or keep the doors open....is not at all the same as working with a growing business that has a solid foundation, business plan and business owners.

To take on a failing or in trouble business from an Internet Marketing perspective is about business management instead of just internet marketing. Also you have to either take the completely hands off approach or the complete take over approach. Hands off means, that you tell them what you are going to do for them, then you do it with out any if ands or butts...just do the work and get out. You can do this from a strictly internet marketing perspective....

The take over approach is where the business management comes into play. This is where you have to sit down with the business, figure out a marketing strategy (not just ranking their website), "TELL" the owner that X and Y need to be done by them and if not, your work will not even start...then when you are doing work, you have to be the boss of them, telling them how things are going to go, work and be done. If a business owner is willing to let you do that, then they can be helped...if not, just walk away. Simple as that...

I enjoy my business. I enjoy working with people, they fascinate me. I will admit I enjoy it more now that I charge more and I target businesses that understand the value of marketing and are willing to spend money to make money.

I don't bother trying to educate small business owners on the value of marketing their businesses, been there done that. Most of the time it is futile. I avoid and eliminate exercises in futility. Now I smile a whole lot more and enjoy my business.

Experience has taught me the clients who pay me alot are less headache, they let me do what I do without much interference, they just want results. It's important to me to make sure they get those results. I'm happier than they are when their revenue goes up as a direct result of my efforts.