All About Internet Marketing Lesson # 12
In the last lesson we talked about whether or not being an affiliate
can change your life. In this issue we are going to talk about why
effective internet marketing begins with a business plan.
Effective internet marketing begins with the business plan. One of
the reasons that franchises are such a popular offline business
model is that they present a plan for making hamburgers or
tutoring kids. Having a plan is one of the most important things in
business and a key component of effective internet marketing.
The first thing I want to ask you is whether you want to have an
internet marketing business or an internet marketing hobby.
There’s nothing wrong with making a couple hundred dollars a
month doing something that is kind of fun. But it’s not a business.
It’s a hobby. Effective internet marketing means treating it like a
business.
The first step of your plan needs to be your long range strategic
goals. How much do you want to be making? What are your
resources to get there? Steven Covey made popular the saying
“begin with the end in mind.” That means, look down the road 5
years or so and find out where you want to be. Then you can plot
backwards what milestones you need to meet to get there.
Your plan should be divided into long term (5 year), midterm (1
year), quarterly, monthly, and daily objectives. This way, you stay
on track.
Additionally, you need to develop systems for everything you do. If
you plan to outsource your article writing, set up a system for
everything from hiring your writers to how they deliver the content
to you. If you systematize the plan, you will get better results. One
person posted a question about why his writers never gave him
titles to the articles. A responder asked him whether he had
asked them to. If you have a system in place, when you bring on a
new writer, he or she will know exactly what you expect of them.
Effective internet marketing also means developing a budget and
sticking to it. Internet hobbyists buy every WSO or course on the
market. They dabble in one thing, listen to an ecourse, buy a
domain name they never use, etc. Someone who is marketing on
a business developed budget will buy only the things he or she
needs to move their business forward.
As you put together a real business plan for your internet
marketing business, you will find that you are making a lot more
money. It stops being something you are playing at on the
evenings and weekends and starts to take shape as a “real”
business.
Pretty soon, you will find that you can leave your day job and make
the online world your primary source of income. Many people
have done this before you. More, though, have played at it,
and said, “internet marketing doesn’t work.” Those are mostly
people who didn’t have any real plan.
Do you want to have a hobby or a business? The answer to that
will determine how successful you are. Always remember that
effective internet marketing is a business and you need a plan.
Make sure you look for your next lesson soon. We will be talking
about using ebooks as an internet marketing strategy.
“WorkatHomeBizBuzz”
Workathomebizbuzz 