Why Do You Want to Be an Internet Marketer?

Have you ever thought to analyze why you want to do IM (Internet marketing)?

There are a lot of different motivations for people to look into this business of Internet marketing.

Some think it’s the magic solution to their income desires.  Others want a work-at-home “job” that will allow them to tend kids at the same time.  Some want to supplement their day job income.  Still others find it a way to extend the reach of their brick and mortar business. Of course there are many, many more reasons for coming online with the hope of becoming a profitable seller.

If you have a profit motive (some folks don’t – they’re simply interested in creative expression, keeping their extended family up-to-date, or enjoying a hobby with others) then there is an order to starting an eventual money making effort online.

First, set the ground rules for what you want to do. Make a list – it will keep you on track. Here is just a sample:

• I can spend 10 hours a week on my Internet business
• I would like to eventually earn $3,000/month in my business
• I want this to be a solo business – no partners or employees
• I want to take two weeks off at Christmas and a month off in the summer
• I have $500 to use as seed capital to get started
• I enjoy writing, I don’t enjoy cold calling, I don’t want to spend a lot of time answering customers support emails, I am not technically inclined, but I do know my way around Facebook and Twitter
• I want a business that will be an asset someday so that I can sell it for cash when I decide to move on to something else

Next, you need to identify a market that you want to be involved with. You may or may not already know what that is. Regardless, I would suggest you inventory your skills, education, past work experience, hobbies, passions, specialized training, and those things that others who know you would say you do very well.

You can also choose something that you would like to learn how to do. Or maybe you’ve traveled a lot or mastered a process (you have the best vegetable garden in town) that can help others when you share your knowledge and experiences with them. The point of this exercise is to find something that gives you an advantage over others, something where you know the language or jargon, something that holds your attention, or something that you can speak about with some authority because you’ve done it successfully already.

Next comes some market research to see if the topic you’ve chosen is a viable market and one where the participants spend their money.

You’re verifying or proving that what you’re getting into is worthy of your time and effort and that it will return an acceptable profit to you.

Market research will also tell you where there are holes or “gaps in the present marketplace” which are opportunities for new businesses to exploit.  It will tell you who your competitors are, what they are offering to the marketplace, where your prospects are found, and what problems/needs/desires those in the marketplace are currently experiencing.

An important part of market research is the process of identifying your “perfect customer” and where people who fit that description can be found online. You will be identifying your audience, groups of prospects that you want to speak with and get on your subscriber list so that you can nurture them, teach them, and communicate with them about your business and their passion which you share.

Over time, this list of subscribers to your business will become your most valuable asset. Prospects buy from those they know, trust and like so building a relationship with people in your audience is very important – especially online where anonymity is the norm for the business/client relationship.

This should help you to get started – there is much more. When you get to this point you will know, based on your topic and potential business model, if you need a blog, an e-commerce site, a membership program, or possibly several specific niche sites that each sell their products or affiliate products, or some other type of web site.

You will know if you need to create or find a product or if setting up a service better meets the needs of your prospects. You will know more specifically what type of business model you need to study and then implement in your niche.

You will actually be way ahead of all the IMers that randomly pick a product and try to sell it without having done any exploration into their market.  They begin without knowing what demand there is for products and services in their niche and without verifying that what they plan to sell is even in demand at all!

These short research elements will lay the groundwork and a solid foundation upon which you can start to build your business.

To you online business success,

Steve Browne

www.SteveBrowneDirect.com