Twenty Steps to Internet Marketing - Step 1 - Meeting That Guru

In my article The 20 Commandments of Internet Marketing,, Commandment 1 is: Thou shalt not have any guru before thee. In fact, if thou seeth a guru, thou shalt run, run, run.

Well, maybe not.

A guru according to the dictionary is:

a. A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical matters.

b. A trusted counselor and adviser. a mentor.

I have another definition for a guru: A Big Time Internet Marketer.

The word mentor is used a lot by Internet gurus. You buy their Internet course or ebook and the first thing you know you will get an email asking you to let him or her be your personal mentor.

Did you get that?

You buy his book or program that is supposed to tell you absolutely everything you are supposed to know to get rich in Internet marketing. Ah! Ha! It doesn't. You know for sure when you get an email that your guru or mentor will give you personal instruction to get you going (for a large fee, of course).

Gurus don't come cheap! Not if they are your personal mentor.

Many gurus say that they have there own personal mentor. That special person can help you too. They hook up with each other, these gurus. You click and not only the new mentor or guru gets paid but the first guy does too and vice versa.

They are affiliated.

Most every guru is selling an ebook or Internet course. I've bought many of them as have many would be Internet marketers.

Why not? I might learn something.

Many are junk. The information is free on the Internet and worthless.

If you get junk, immediately ask for your refund.

Did I learn the secrets on how to get rich on the Internet from all of the stuff I have purchased? Well, let's check my bank balance. I guess the answer is: Not at all.

Did I learn all of the Guru Secrets. No, I didn't. Gurus keep their secrets.

Here is my criteria for buying an ebook: Do I want the information and am I willing to risk my hard-earned money to get it?

Some of the gurus are very good teachers. Either that or they hire good writers. If an ebook is very specific about one money-making method, it can be very interesting, entertaining, and informative. If you actually do exactly as the guru says, your MIGHT make some money using that one method.

Like I said, gurus are marketers. That's why the guru comes back to help you further. He knows that you will fail if you don't do what is required. Once he has your email address, he will continue to offer you more products and advice. If you pay him enough, he will give you personal mentoring by telephone and email and by other means.

He is making you lose your focus. He is eliminating you as competition.

Can you believe what a guru says about his past life and his success?

Can you believe the testimonial on his site? Many gurus just write there own, especially for a brand new program that no one has ever purchased. Even the "Good Guys" do this at times. Such dastardly deeds!

If a guru says he made $37,782.98 in 36 hours, did he?

Can't I jump in and do the same thing?

What he didn't tell you is that he worked for a very long time building an email list of buyers that trust him.

He simply found a new exciting offer and e-mailed it to his list.

Oh, for such a list!

Some people read a comprehensive (and more expensive) course on Internet Marketing and actually follow the comprehensive details and create a successful Internet business on their own.

Guru programs come in all skins. One guru, Cory Rudl, put out a program that I call the Nine Pound Wonder, two big 3-leaf binders.

Cory, a Canadian, wrote an ebook on automobiles and made a good living at it. In fact, the ebook is still available. Then, after many of his friends wanted to know how to get started in an Internet Business, he decided to write his marketing course. Other gurus have started in this same way.

Sadly, Cory Died in Late May of 2005 while racing his Porsche in California.

That was a very sad day for many of us "old hands" on the Internet.

I've bought this particular course twice and received three versions. The current version has CDs and DVDs to improve the teaching (and to sell you more products).

Like I say, I've purchased the above course twice. It is very good-but may seem a bit too overwhelming for a beginner.

Cory always said, and I concur, that you should learn one method of Internet marketing at a time and perfect it before you go on to the next method. Have patience. We will be covering these methods as we go along in this series of 20 Internet Marketing Steps.

Ken Evoy of Canada provides a complete service for people to make money on the Internet based on their experience and interest. Nothing is left to the imagination. But you will have to pay for what you get.

Either way, you will have a tough time getting started with a profitable Internet business without spending money on education and any needed software.

HINT: Before you buy any ebook, program, or piece of software , place the name in the Google search box. Read comments about the software, ebook, or program and all evaluations of the product. Look for complaints, scams, free substitute programs or software that do the same thing.

If you evaluate the ebook, program, or software and find that it is not what you want-for any reason-ask for a refund as soon as possible-before the warranty or guarantee period ends.

Remember that competitors will tell you not to purchase certain items so that you will buy their items instead. You must be the judge of who is telling you the truth. However, if you look at all of the reviews you will find some honest evaluations.

I suggest that you go to Internet forums and say that you are thinking about spending a significant amount of money on a program. Talk with others who have bought the program and actually tried the money-making techniques. See if they think they got their money's worth.

I have a friend, Neal Shearing, who has a Ph.D. to do cancer research but earns more money (to support his young family) through the Internet. Neil lives in Devon, England and vacations in Cornwall. I use to travel to England every few months and I love that area. Lucky guy! Neal has shown that it is possible to make a very good living on the Internet.

Here is my best recommendation if you are new to Internet Marketing:

Join the Wealthy Affiliate University were you will get some individual attention without paying for it. It comes with the monthly site fee. The two computer scientist that own the site are always on the forums to guide you. And you can do what I do, help those who are new to Internet marketing.

Better still, they take you through an 8-week course to get you going. Week by week you will become a stronger Internet Marketer as you work through the course work at the site. Course work comes in three levels, Junior, Intermediate, and Advanced so you work your way up the three education levels.

Even an old dog like me can improve earnings by learning the techniques so simply and completely explained at WA. This site wasn't all that much a few years back when these two pups were getting started. You can not say that now.

Education is expensive but the Wealthy Affiliate University is only about 30 bucks a month. There is no place on the Internet that cost less and is so effective to get you started.

So, that is my recommendation: The Wealthy Affiliate University. Go to my business site to read more about all of the above gurus and their products and the Wealthy Affiliate University.

A few common things that consistently hold people back (Extracted from the proceedings of the WA Conference in Los Vegas in 2008 given by Thad):

1. People don't take enough action.

By far the most common reason people fail or don't see progress in Internet Marketing is not doing enough. If you are article marketing, put up many articles.

2. People over complicate things.

Taking action and getting in the game is key. Quality is obviously very important, but there's no reason to let over-analysis stop you. Just get out there!

3. Lack of good research.

Most marketers are far too focused on shoving the wrong product down their target audience's throat. So mainly, always ask yourself if you're really giving people what they're hungry for.

4. Not sticking to a plan of action.

Success comes from being as consistent as possible with daily or weekly tasks. Whether that's doing one article per day-or one PPC landing page per day. Stick to a plan and keep moving forward. Even if you only did one of those every day-over the course of a year you'll have 365 articles or 365 landing pages in action. That is a recipe for success!

5. Not milking as much as possible out of a single niche that converts.

Every big campaign starts with just one teeny tiny little sale. Maybe it's one lonely sale per week-or one sale per month. It's key try to see the potential of being able to build things up from just a single sale to hundreds or thousands of sales. But it all starts with just that one sale.

In the next segment of this 20 part series, we will discuss Niche Marketing.

Happy Days are Here Again!

Fly Old Glory!

The End

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@yahoo.com, a retired college professor and business executive, is author of books, novels, and hundreds of articles published world wide. Former editor of an international engineering magazine. Jones loves Internet marketing and loves to help others find their way in that complicated business. Jones sells books at Money-Making-Books.com

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