Internet marketing done right involves just a few, but very important criteria. If you search many of the online forums you see many asking the question, "how do I get started when I do not have a product to sell?" In actual practice, this is a backward query of sorts because the first question thatought to be satisfied is "What do people want?" The second query bought to be "Are there products I can sell that satisfy the need?"
You do not need to create your own product to be successful. However, if you have found a demand that is not being satisfied by any existing product and you have the means to create one, then by all means invest in the research to properly test the market.
There are ample resources online to properly research the market but you have to prioritize and look in the right places. If you are the type who rarely ventures outside the confines of Facebook or Twitter, then you will have to broaden your cyber resources in order to form a workable plan.
Traffic and conversion are the two components controlling your success in the internet marketing realm. That is, you need to create a pathway to your product offering and you have to convert the visitors to paying customers.
If you venture forth willy-nilly without testing, there is a "stupid-tax" to be paid. That is what we call it wherein the proper preparation to "win" has not been done. The "stupid-tax" is usually in the form of lost money or time. Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as having said "time is money". So, whether you spend a lot of time spinning your wheels or you spend a lot of money without a return on your investment, the result is probably the same.
When internet marketing is done right there is a plan in place that does a few things.
- A market place need is identified
- A product to satisfy the need is created or sourced
- A promotional strategy is crafted to generate traffic
- An offer is tested to judge conversion
If you have studied marketing in the offline world, then you have heard this process before. It is no different in the online world. Unlike the brick and mortar business, location is not really important. But, marketing intelligence is.
Some of the best places where you can grow your internet marketing intelligence are forums and newsletters. The Warrior Form (Google it for yourself) is the premiere location for every astute internet marketer on the planet. You should make it a daily stop.
To gain a competitive advantage, pump up your marketing intelligence and avoid the "Stupid-Tax" you should subscribe to The Online Worker's Digest newsletter at . The Digest has over 100,000 international readers and there is no cost to subscribe. Every month it packs "how to" articles, free or low-cost marketing tools and interviews from online business owners into a 35+ page report you can download or read at your convenience.
