As someone who has built dozens of businesses online and offline and have hundreds of thousands of pages of content across 4-niche markets, I do tend to get asked quite frequently questions around getting started with the basics of online marketing.
In fact, one of the reasons we put together Information Marketer’s Zone was to help kick-start successful online businesses, providing proven, efficient systems for new internet entrepreneurs to use as a cookie-cutter for getting their internet marketing business operational and making money online.
Without working through a bootstrap process like this, it can take months (if not years) to learn the basics and by then you have either given up, lost a ton of money or are further behind because just when you learn what has worked in the past, the rules have changed and you never seem to be able to catch up.
4 Basic Questions About Online Marketing
Here are 4 questions I took from a recent coaching session with a client that captures some of the most asked questions with my responses…I just ask that if you find the answer to any of these questions helpful, leave us a comment and let us know. As well, if you have a different question, leave a comment and we’ll add it to this post as we go.
1.What Should I Sell Or Offer For Money?
I have always found my most successful sites are those where I have aligned an interest/passion or experience with a commercial opportunity. So I will head into a market that interests me, dig into what is selling (could be information, tangible things, a service, etc…) and make sure I get in front of, and gain the trust of those who want to buy that product or service. Suggest you do the same.
2.What Type of Website Should I Start With?
I am a big fan of hosting my own WordPress blogs. You can get great quality and feature-rich web hosting for $7/month or less (find our recommended webhost here) , setup a domain and use the automated installation of WordPress from your webhost to get a blog up and running within an hour. From there, you post content, build social networking presence and use other techniques to draw traffic toward your site
3.How Do I Get People To Want – And Then Buy – What I Am Offering?
First of all, you pick markets where people already want to buy your items – then you work at getting in front of them by developing interesting content, reaching them through search engine optimization, social networking and possibly via advertising (optional) or via affiliate marketing (where you own your own product like an ebook, report or service that you allow others to promote for you and send traffic and customers your way)
4.What Else Do I Need To Know To Get Started Making Money With Online Marketing?
What I’ve written above is a good start, other than this I would dig in a little deeper into a) Business models – how money is made online b) how to generate compelling content which attracts people toward you versus your competition c) information product creation if you find this appealing (this is my favorite method of monetization) d) basics of how lead generation, sales funnels and conversions happen as these are the fundamentals of online marketing
I highly recommend working through the bootstrap training program inside InfoMarketer’sZone where you will also find lots of tools, templates and personal coaching/mentoring for a tiny fraction of the price you will pay to have 1 -on 1 coaching or consulting.
Above all else, don’t be afraid to get started. Be a sponge and then take action, learn from your results and you will be well on your way to mastering the basics of making money with online marketing.
