As a newcomer to internet marketing (common term “newbie”), your task is to learn the basic essentials.  Whether your goal is to build a long-term business or just to generate an extra income, in the beginning those basics are pretty much the same.

It cannot be said too often – there is no “get-rich-quick” scheme to online riches. Believe me, I spent more time trying out such schemes than I am willing to confess to. Now don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of “latest and greatest” new ideas or secrets cropping up daily that will probably enhance the business of someone who is already established and understands how these new ideas can be used. But if you are just starting out to learn how to build a business online, you must understand that you will have to put time and effort into learning the basics, building a solid foundation from which your business will grow. You can try out the latest new tricks later. Forget about the ones you might be missing just now – the good ones will still be around, even tested and tweaked to work better, by the time you are ready for them.

The basic steps to building a strong foundation for your internet business have not changed much in principle over the years, and there are a few guys teaching those steps still, who have been teaching them for years, and whose good reputation depends on their students, people like us, going on to do well. With hindsight, I can see that if I had started out three years ago studying with one of these experienced marketers, I would be much further ahead now than I actually am.

Remember I said in an earlier post that I unsubscribed from most of the many newsletters and lists I had signed up for? The ones I kept (and now have time to read properly) are listed on the right under “other cool blogs”. I’ve kept up my subscriptions to these ones because I’ve found that they are generous with tips and sound advice. In fact, I’ve often learnt more from their free stuff than I have from other people’s over-hyped rubbish that I’ve paid good money for (it’s unbelievable that I could have been so gullible for so long). So I invite you to take a look at what they have to say, get to know them, then make an informed choice about where you will spend your valuable time and attention.

To a rewarding internet journey,

Sue