OK.  I am in my second year of Internet marketing.  I decided to stick with this and make it work. My posts have been sporadic at best, but I want to change that.  I want to log my journey for posterity, if you will.

Up till now I have bought gobs of ebooks, software and ecourses, most of which were waffle and tripe.  But the ones that I have printed and stuck in a binder I treat just like a college text – right there on my desk or at hand on the shelf, full of post it notes and highlighting.

(Currently I am using Niche Profit Machines by Paul Simpson and Chris Remple’s Conduit Method.)
 
I have taught myself to do a decent website with Front Page.  I have downloaded ready-made templates and done some modification in the HTML, CSS and PHP!!   

I am learning my way around Aweber, can make working Paypal buttons - hey, I even set up a shopping cart!  I can FTP like a pro!

I have learned how to dig for niches and then write an ebook.  I have written from scratch 3 information products and rewritten a dozen of more PLR, too.  I have done everything but promote (i.e. write articles, make press releases, and such). 

I have three separate completed projects.  All ready to go.  Why aren’t they going?  Near as I can tell, I am afraid of success.  I am not afraid of failure.  I don’t fail.  I do make a lot of mistakes and learn a lot but I don’t fail.

It’s funny.  I can PDF and I can rebrand.  I can format with CSS (sort of).  But I can’t sell a thing!  But I do know that it is just a matter of time.  I have determined to finish all the “started” projects before flying off into a new way to make money.

You’ll be the first to know when I do publish/promote.

In business timing is everything. Well, almost everything. You may or may not be on any time constraints/deadlines with Internet Marketing. But there is usually a pattern or better way to do things.
In Internet marketing I have floundered around like a new swimmer trying to swim without guidance or even a book! Since I am not drowning, physically, at least I still keep at it as I want to learn this thing called Internet Marketing!! But drowning is a good description of one who is diving into this with zero training or direction.
What if the first time you were surfing the Internet for how to make money at home (as you were desperate to make a little extra cash) and you happened upon a method to make money in affiliate marketing? Lots of good instruction out there but the first thing you run up against is – WHICH program do I try? Of three programs you opt for the cheaper one say for $27. You wait for the download excitedly and rip into it and … well, it’s all “Greek” to you! You have no idea what SEO is. You are intimidated my Clickbank. You ‘ve read the horror stories about Pay-pal.
Timing …and education!… is everything. Yup! it’s back to school and guess what there are LOTS of “teachers” who want to teach you the ropes – for a price. But I/you want this bad so we spend the dollars/pounds to learn this craft. But it’s kind of like that story about the three blind men describing an elephant. One fellow thinks an elephant is like a tree as he pats the leg. Another says it’s like a vine as he grasps the tail and the third says, ‘no, no an elephant is a fan’, as he feels the breeze froms its flapping ears.
So how do you describe this elephant called Internet Marketing? It is creating unique products (writing info products)! Internet marketing is studying human psychology (writing sales copy, right?!)! Internet Marketing is beating the statistics (SEO)! It is flying by the seat of your pants, sometimes (split trials)! It is a way that ANY average Joe or Jane can have a chance to earn an honest living. Ultimately, Internet Marketing must be felt from all sides and angles or you just don’t get the whole story.
You can’t just read about affiliate marketing – that is only part of it. SEO is advanced IMing. Writing copy is both science and art. So…
AND there is no convenient way to find where to begin in Internet Marketing. There is no syllabus, no yellow pages even to look up how to do Internet Marketing.
What it comes down to is anyone who really wants to make Internet Marketing work will join forums (like the Warrior Forum) and discussion groups and the earlier in his IM career the better. From there you will be able to glean from experienced marketers and be able to ask what is the best path to take.
But I am preaching to the choir. You most likely are here due to reading about it from an article or a discussion on a forum.
I heard it once said, “It takes guts to succeed” and this isn’t less true in Internet Marketing.
Stay with it! Anyone can succeed at this business. Anyone that is who is willing to do the time and “go back to school”.
See you in the trenches!