Today, we’ll take a light hearted look at the internet marketing (and general internet business) industry. It wont be heavy, I wont dazzle you with stats, but we’ll look at the type of irritating challenges that come with creating, running and growing your own online empire.

Before starting, let me tell you that in fact, setting up my own business was the most rewarding thing I have ever done, on multiple levels. It has been my baby. And, being a childless near middle aged man, it will be my legacy and footprint in this world of ours.

In case you don’t know all that much about me (and you probably dont), I’ve been online for about a decade now. The idea of owning my e-business first came to me about a decade ago, when I was working at about 10.47pm in my then rather hectic city job. I had finished off my umpteenth cup of dishwater coffee and I had a list of things to finish. Tomorrow, I would have to take the 6am train and repeat it all over again. As I sat there, momentarily paralyzed at how I could have wound up in the rat race at the age of 25, I remembered thinking, there’s got to be another way.

A better way. Where I can work hard when I need to, but also enjoy the nice things in life – fast cars, my own place, travel… without the intense workplace politics, and the hundred other chains and whipsaws that come with that dreadful 3 letter word…JOB.

That idea took seed in my mind. And do you know the most difficult thing to get rid of in the world? An idea. Ten years later, I have to say I’m in an industry that I like, doing a business I enjoy, working with clients who are a pleasure. Thanks to technology, I can wake up and head to a cafe for a couple of hours in the morning to do some work. I can work late when I need to (which is quite frankly, often) and when the situation allows, I can finish early and enjoy some time off. As long as you’re responsible, and you understand that clients come first…you’ll probably love being an internet entrepreneur, and do pretty well to boot.

Today, we’ll look at a few of the challenges and even toe-curlingly irritating issues that you have to get on top of when you choose this life.  Here are just some…and these may not always be covered in your standard marketing-101 ebooks. A couple are serious, others a tad bizarre…but you’ll encounter ALL if you hang on long enough.

- Motivation: What type of person are you? Can you *REALLY* work without the tyrany of a ruthless boss monitoring your every move? See, the idea of working in your PJs sounds pretty sweet, but when push comes to shove a lot of people discover that they just do not have the motivation or discipline to do it. When it’s a choice of watching Jeremy Kyle go head to head against a canabis smoking benefits cheat, or article re-writing…Jeremy Kyle wins more often than not. You need to be motivated in this industry, and be stern enough to stick to the tasks you need to complete. 

- Reading the pulse of your industry: Online, it all changes at the speed of light. Everything is fluid…from the best ways of generating new leads and traffic, to what it is exactly that clients WANT from your business. If you’re starting out from scratch, you’ll need to develop your skills, to be able to deliver what your clients need. If you’re an old pro, the process involves continually reassessing what they want, and adapting your business accordingly. Sometimes, we all get it wrong…and you need to have the strength of character to bounce back from it.

- Spammers. Sometimes, all you want to do is log into your various business emails and deal with relevant issues. But of course, instead you have to deal with all sorts of SPAM. Some have subjects that are tantalizingly genuine sounding, such as “please send download link” – which paints a picture of some distressed client who’s invested in a product but who has not been redirected to the download page and instead been stranded in the blankness cyberspace (probably because Paypal is having a momentarty strop). So you click, but it turns out some plucky little spammer is trying to promo his ebook instead. These wasted clicks and seconds soon all add up, until you wind up wanting to beat every spammer over the head with a baseball bat until the blood seeps through every imaginable oraface.

Here are some spam mails I’ve recently received:

* “I have a list of 50,000 lawyers that you can buy!”  (keep sending this to random people and you’re going to need them)

* “Make her erupt with pleasure”

And perhaps my favourite…

* “Genuine Rolex Fakes for £10″

- Form Filling & That Little Letter Verification Box. As an online professional, you’ll have to fill in a lot of FORMS. When you want to join an affiliate program, you need to fill out a form. When you join a giveaway, you have to fill out another form. Some are simple, some are more involved and you’ll need to verify your email address.

But, perhaps the most annoying is the letter verification tool that a lot of sites you’ll visit have. On the surface of it, it’s a good thing right? After all, the site owner is only trying to protect the site from thos scampy little auto robots getting through. The thing is (and it may just be me) most of my first (and often subsequent) tries end up being wrong. Because, the letters are always done in some weird squiggley writing which is impossible to identify. Is it an a or an unfinished 8? Is it a 0 or an O? It’s impossible to tell – and if you get it wrong, you’ll get penalized for it. Sometimes, when you screw it all up (which in my case is always) you’ll have to do the whole form again as a punishment. When you try again, the next series of letters is even harder to decode – this time, it appears to be just a random collection of shapes that look nothing like letters. And now, there are lines and circles criss crossing the shapes. Lightening seems to be attacking it. I mean for goodness sakes, you’re meant to fool the robots, not the humans. 

- Cats. Yes, cats. Here’s a tip for you. Do not, under any circumstances even think of having a home based business when you have a cat. My one seems hell bent on ruining my business. Ordinarily, he’s a great and incredibly personable little fellow. He loves affection, and will nibble your ear gently in the mornings when he’s hungry and it’s time to wake up. Give him some fresh prawns and he’ll purr loudly like a ferrari engine. Take him to the garden, and it’s a pleasure to watch him leap about, batting his paws at insects, and sniffing flowers energetically. However, let it be know to him that you’re trying to do something productive and he’ll bend over backwards to stop you. Over the last few weeks alone, he’s managed to ruin a crucial .txt document (he likes to sit on the laptop when you’re off to the kitchen to brew some tea), he’s attacked a potential JV partner, he’s stolen a dongle (still missing) and if you so much as dare to make a skype call or produce an audio/video he’ll scream like a maniac until you abort. So, think hard before getting a cat – having said that, I wouldn’t now change having him  around for the world

- “JV Giveaway Events” – A good way of adding new subscribers to your lists? Sure. What does perplex me is that all of them seem to feel they need some underlying theme. We’ve had the sweetheart event (Valentines day), events for every religious holiday, we’ve had the fathers day and mothers day events and birthday events. Do we as marketers really need to hold these events only when there’s a holiday or occassion of sort? And, when too many people start hosting their own giveaways and we run out of occassions, what will we see next? A move into increasingly bizarre life based events? Will we see “Menapause Madness”? Or “Midlife Crisis Extravaganza”? I certainly hope not.    

- Taxes & Accountants. Every year, I start looking at getting my dream car (in a realistic attainable sense). The Audi TT. It is a thing of beauty, and when you fancy a bit of speed and danger (ie overtaking little old grannies in their 1.2l Hyundai’s) there’s nothing quite like it.

The thing is, every year around about Christmas I start getting the itch – and I tell myself that yes, it can be done. Then, my accountant calls up and informs me in his robotic voice that we need to start talking about the accounts and the taxes to be filed. Now, in my business I pay taxes annually not monthly. It typically comes as one big nasty TT shattering shock, and it needs to be paid upfront in one whack. Then, you also have to pay the accountant a good 2k for his services. By the time it’s all done, your TT money has gone into the governments coffers.

On a serious note – you do need to take taxes and accounting seriously when you venture into online business. Because, you can get into serious trouble if you don’t.    

So there you have it – some random, strange and possibly neurotic things that I’ve stumbled over while running my own online business. But do you know what, weighed up against the fantastic things that my business has given back in return, these things are really nothing. And I wouldn’t change what I have for the world . If creating and running your own internet business appeals to you, I really could not recommend it enough.

If you’d like everything you need to create and run your internet business, all in one place then DRR Pro is just what you’re looking for.

I had to call a locksmith to fix it and do you know how much he charged? 90! (That’s about $160 if you’re across the atlantic by the way). He didn’t change it. He didn’t even change any of the parts. As far as I could tell he simply twiddled at it with some metal thingy (i think they call it a screwdriver) and then stuck me with a ridiculous bill. I had no option but to pay it.

The thing is I checked, and that’s the going rate for a locksmith in London. And do you know WHY they get away with charging such high rates? Because it’s a SPECIAL SKILL. Most people can’t do it.

What does this have to do with you? Absolutely everything. You see, YOUR specialist knowledge is absolutely priceless online. If you happen to be an internet business entrepreneur (like me) you can make an absolute BOMB simply by knowing more than most, and having more skills than most. Because people will pay (sometimes exorbidant sums of) cash for your specialist skills & knowledge. And the potential is even more potent in the internet arena where new techniques, systems, methods & technologies are born almost daily.

Think about that the next time you’re struggling with trying something new online. Because once you sort it out, you can probably write your own ticket by having that skill or knowledge. Here are just a few examples of the type of online specialist skills & knowledge I’m talking about:

* Creating simple websites.
* Understanding & penetrating new niche markets.
* Installing scripts.
* Creating information products & software.
* Creating graphics.
* Pulling in traffic.
* Building Opt In Lists.
* Setting up membership sites.
* Creating Audio/Video.
* Creating podcasts & RSS feeds.
* Creating high-ticket courses.

You see, just this small list of topics require SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE too. This means that like the locksmith, once you start to master them, and know where to find customers who are looking for them, you can start charging those high market rates for them yourself.

A lot of people want to earn a massive amount of money online. They want $5,000 or $10,000 online. There’s nothing wrong with that at all but if you’re starting out from scratch then it takes some time and application to develop your skills & knowledge online.

Perhaps you already have a SPECIALIST SKILL? If so, start to think about how you can market that skill online. The next section of this article looks at how and where to freelance your skills for immediate gains.

Freelancing – The Opportunities For YOU Are Endless. Here’s What To Sell, Where To Find Work & How To Set-Up A Freelancing Business Selling Your Skills Online!

It’s almost startling the way that the entire world is rushing online to conduct business. Did you know that there are an estimated 8 billion websites floating around on the world wide web? That number is going up as we speak.

It’s good news. Because as more and more people and businesses come online it creates one thing – opportunity. As the internet evolves, so does your scope for marketing your skills and services online.

So what type of skills can you market online? The answer is just about ANYTHING that you can do for someone else. I’m going to be focusing largely on online business skills today but it could just as easily be something completely different (for example making hand made crafts or speciality cards).

Here are just a sample of your skills and services that you could offer to the exploding internet business market:

- Content creation.
- Website creation & maintenance.
- Graphics creation.
- Copywriting.
- Information product creation.
- Software creation.
- Search engine optimisation.
- Pay per click campaign management.
- Affiliate program management.
- Joint venture marketing.
- Opt in list/leads services.
- Audio/Video production.
- Accounts/Excel/Word skills.
- Access database skills.

I could just as easily keep going for AGES with additional services & skills that you could charge for (and that are in great demand). For now, lets talk a little about the sort of prices that you could charge for your skills. Here are some averages I found for you:

For WRITING Services (copywriting, transcriptions, reports) – Average price of $376 per project.

For DESIGN Services (book/cd covers/photo editing) – Average price of $264 per project.

For PROGRAMMING Services (C++ and other geeky type languages) – Average price of $1,030 per project.

For OTHER services (including lead generation, video editing, word processing, excel skills) – Average price of $780 per project.

Do YOU have any skills that could be used by the billions of businesses seeking them? Why not find out (pop in to elance and have a poke about).

You’ll find out exactly what skills are sought after – and if you happen to have them you could start bidding on projects and start creating an additional stream of income by offering your services.

Train Yourself Online & Offer Your Skills For Sale – Visit www.digitalresalerightspro.com

“Nothing that is worth doing, or achieving, comes easy”. It applies to just about everything you will ever do. Take a look at sports stars. People knock superstars like Christiano Ronaldo (the world soccer player of the year) who now earns millions a year in wages and endorsements. They say stuff like “oh he gets paid so much for running around a field, it’s a disgrace!”. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In actual fact, Christiano (and everyone who gets to the top of their game in any field) has sweated blood to get where he is today. He practices day and night, looks to continually improve his skills and techniques, has a tediously strict diet and trains like a beast. In an interview shortly after getting his player of the year award he revealed that he got there by working HARDER than the others in his profession. When training finishes, he’s there for an extra two hours working on his skills, his techniques. To get that little bit better, day after day.

This is even more true within the internet business and marketing niche. Without exception, the people who climb to the very top have got there by doing the hard things that many others have given up on. There are always big challenges to be met in business and marketing – you have to view that as a good thing. Because, when you come over a hurdle…everyone else also comes over it. Many will fall – but if you stay at it, and succeed…you can bet it will reflect on your bottom line. It’s good to have it hard, it separates the men from the boys – the wheat from the chaff.

This is very different to what you may hear elsewhere. The sad truth is many people will try and con you into believing that there are easy ways out. Yes, there are ways to be more efficient, and to be more productive but there’s no magic red button that does it all for you on autopilot.

Sadly some programs/products rely on the weakness & laziness of people to grab them sales. Here are some examples:

- Some programs will tell you that you can build a six figure online business without your own site/blog, or opt in list, or any budget. To someone who’s struggling with the technicals of blog/site development or who has yet to earn a penny you can see how it would have a strong appeal. Many of these programs don’t work – often such programs simply sell a tool, or concept that may be effective but only for those who have a business set-up already.

- Some software will promise you the moon, saying you can just switch it on and traffic will start pouring into your sites and blogs. There’s only one slight problem – it doesn’t work. Again, it’s an ideal “solution” for those who don’t want to get their hands DIRTY by doing the effective marketing strategies that can take time and effort. With time and experience, you’ll learn how to spot these a mile away.

There are hundreds more examples, but I’m sure you get the gist. Think about that the next time you come across something that you feel you cannot overcome. Remember that everyone else, including your competition, are in the same boat. If you can rise and beat the challenge, you’re a step closer to where you want to be.

And, remember that online business and internet marketing is a long term game – the process of finding an in-demand product/service to offer, and then setting up a business system to offer it is no joke. To do it right takes hard work. The more you apply yourself, and win on the small challenges, the more battles you’ll start to win – and sooner or later that will filter through to your Paypal account. Big time.

If (as I suggested at this time last year) you had created your plan for the year, then take a look at how it stood the test of time. See what you wanted to do. And achieve. Did you? If you did, congratulations but the work’s only just starting – you need to pinpoint exactly what factors were behind your success. Did you excel at list building? Find out what worked, and do the same thing again – only twice as hard. The great thing about the internet is that success can be duplicated – once you find a system that works well, you can duplicate it over and over and get rewarded each time.

In case it all went wrong, again you need to find out where. Your intentions may have been perfect – you may have wanted an opt in list of 10,000 more people. You may have wanted to increase traffic. Or income by X amount…your job is to calmly analyse the facts and see what went pear shaped. Then, you can take corrective action so that this time around – you do better. The trick really is to know what happened, and to change your actions to improve your performance. In reality, you may find that some of your plans went well, and others not quite so.

Personally, I also have a monthly review for my own performance as well as the performance of everyone who works in my business. And, I have an annual one that takes place every December. It’s the one I love doing the most. If you’re early on in your internet business career, then start drawing up your plans. It’s very important.
How To Set Your Goals For 2009

Believe me, people who know what they want and write it down get far better results than those who don’t. It’s simple logic really – if we ourselves don’t know what we want, how is our mind supposed to go about achieving it. You’ll be confused, moving on from one thing to another and almost certainly not achieving very much, sort of like some giant unstoppable idiot.

In contrast, if you spend just an hour or so to develop a plan – and come back to it frequently, your mind has a blueprint to follow so that you can actually get what you want. Your plan should be detailed – and challenging, without being unrealistic. You also need to enter as much detail as possible about HOW your plan will come true. What learning goals will you have for 2009? What sort of in come will you believe you can get? How will you do it? What level of investment will you have available? How will the floundering global economy affect your projections?

I would also strongly suggest having additional plans for each month of the year, these should be tied in to your yearly plans too.

Thoughts, Actions, Results

There is a wonderful little book called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T.Harv Eker. I keep it handy when my own mind gets a little riled. Anyway, one of the greatest things I learned in this book is how and why two people with exactly the same education, information and resources at their disposal can see such varied results.

In a nutshell, it’s all to do with how our minds think. This is key because our thoughts give rise to certain feelings. Our feelings lead us to take action. And those actions lead to the results we achieve. Most people only focus on the results part – but they don’t consider the thoughts that gave rise to it.

I know a lot of my clients are eminently successful, and my word it makes me happy. But I also have a lot of newbies, and early entrepreneurs and this section is very important for them especially. Because, one of the biggest challenges that newbies and early entrepreneurs face is the mental one. Some of the biggest problems that newbies have is (a) overload of information (b) too many hyped product launches and (c) changing their actions so that their results also can improve. Instead, many people will keep doing the same old things, because they have the same old thoughts – and still expect to see different results. It’s not their fault – it’s human nature. But now that you know, look out for it.

1. What Is It That Successful Internet Entrepreneurs Have, That Can Put Money In Anyone’s Pocket, That You Can’t Buy Right Now…?

Experience. The simple fact is that experience is one of the most wonderful assets to have under your belt, whatever your trade. In the online biz world, only with experience can we understand what’s good and what’s trite. Only experience can tell us what is a good business proposition and what latest big ticket fad to avoid with a bargepole. Experience guides us as to what advertising methods are worth the time and investment, and which are scams.

When an employer looks for a worker for whatever job they wish to fill, you can bet it’s experience they look for, even above qualifications or other traits. In the game of football (soccer), even the most youthful, energetic and skilled team can be blunt and win nothing at the end of the year unless shepherded by an old pro who’s been there and done it (just ask Arsenal fans if you don’t believe me).

It’s a great thing, but it’s also a double edged sword. Because, only by DOING and over TIME can we actually gain experience. We cannot buy it. It’s not to be found in Bob The Guru’s shiny new video course, and no teleseminar or any third party product/service can give you this most elusive of traits. It can only really be earned through the virtues of graft and action.

Experience taught me that not all niches are the same. Experience taught me that what monetisation model works for one website business will fail in another. Experience taught me that an opt in list is well worth the trouble to develop, and that it cannot be reliably bought at any price (not even for 1.5k as I had “invested” with one “guru” many years ago).

So, go ahead and “experience” things. Go ahead and have a GO at building your list, at setting up a niche business, at getting traffic using a myriad of different methods. Do it fearlessly and don’t be afraid to fail. Because with each day that you try something new, you’ve found a method that may or may not work. Either way, you’ve gained experience…and that’s worth it’s weight in gold, because one day your accumulated experience will afford you more success than you dared dream possible.

2. Know Yourself, Know What You Want And Understand Why…

A few days ago, we talked about the importance of goal and plan setting. I wont go over the logics and technicals of this again but there’s another thing that plans can help you with.

As you scribble down your plan, you’ll actually have a clear idea of what you want in your business, and maybe even in life. You’ll discover why you want whatever it is you’re striving for. This is important, because when a person knows with crystal clarity what he or she wants, they have a good chance of achieving it. Subconsciously, they will find a way to make it so. And, I believe strongly that there is an unwritten law within our universe that rewards those who have a strong, clear desire for something.

Personally, I don’t seek money first. I seek happiness. In fact, I can name you some gurus who make probably twice what I do…but, I’m willing to bet not one of them can match my level of inner-peace and happiness.

Fact is, I choose happiness first in my blueprint for life. Money is simply a part of that happiness, and the internet business I’ve built over the past decade is a fantastic way of achieving wealth without sacrificing happiness. In contrast, during my stressful banking career I had oddles of cash but rarely any peace of mind. Only through experience did I learn that money can be a very fickle mistress to worship, and that we need much more to enjoy life.

I still keep in touch with some of my old bank buddies – some have made it to VP, some haven’t – but all are looking seriously tired, haggard and, dare I say it, unhappy. What’s the point of that? I choose to have more than just wealth. I choose to enjoy love. I choose to take care of my body by going to the gym and being selective with my diet. I choose to go on nice holidays when I wish and buy whatever I want be that an iphone, ipod or PS3. That is why I am an internet business entrepreneur – because the title allows me not only wealth but so much more of the wonderful things that life has to offer, such as time to enjoy life and stay fit and healthy. And only this combination can make ME happy. It may be different for you.

So, what do YOU choose? What do you want? Why do you want it? Write these things down, and refer to it from time to time. Be honest with yourself, because you’re brilliant and wonderful and you deserve getting whatever it is that you really WANT. And once you know what that is, not much can stop you.

3. The Beauty Of Long Term – It’s The Only Term Worth Thinking About

Excuse me. I promised when I set out to write this article that I would NOT criticise the internet marketing industry today. But, one of the things that do get my goat within it is the amount of “short termism” that exists within it.

The emphasis is almost always on the here and now. The big magic red button that will fill your paypal button. The magic software that will fill your autoresponder with fresh hot subscribers and all that garbage.

In fact, it’s only the long term that matters and we all need to know that. Only by providing consistently good products or services will we ever get repeat clients. Only by steadily building a list of qualified prospects in your direct market (and giving them useful content) can we build our list into the tens of thousands. Only by learning, applying, and repeating this countless times can we ever hope to have the know-how to be leaders in the industry of our choice. And, like it or not, this is likely to take years as opposed to months, weeks (or even minutes as some sales pages may have you believe).

It’s all about the long term, not about being a one hit wonder. Most people give up, not because of any fault of their own but because that’s the default setting in human nature. If after a few days, or weeks, or months they don’t see a wild ROI, they are liable to just quit. That’s sad, because there’s greatness to be had – just hang around long enough to let it embrace you.

4. Take Care Of Your Mind, Body & Soul

Ok, I don’t wish to sound like your mother here but this is as important as everything else above. It’s important to achieve balance in life. That means working not only on your business, not only on getting traffic, not only on list building, outsourcing and the thousand other things that we need to do to run a successful online business.

It also means working on everything in our life that matters. Because, human beings have a complex nature – it’s impossible to be happy in life unless a number of key needs are met. We need other things besides money to be content – there are no shortage of wealthy yet miserable people in life and I’m not sure about you but I would never wish to be that way. Believe it or not, we can all make small changes that can impact our lives very positively, no matter where we currently are.

For example, our health. Everyone is at a different stage in life, but for most it’s never too late to make small changes that can dramatically improve our life and health.

Like, even small amounts of exercise a week can help to keep us healthy – and exercise has the added benefit of stimulating our brains (I swear, so many of my best ideas have come while I’m in the gym…just make sure you go with a tiny notepad.) And, if the gym is not an option then there’s lots of other things you can do, from jogging to gentle walking. Together with exercise, consider eating the right foods too – what we put in our body has a big say in how we feel, as well as our energy levels and so much more. It’s funny, but the best I’ve ever felt in life has always been when I’ve eaten the right things and done my time at the gym. And, most important of all, that’s also been when I’ve produced the best work for my clients and my business. And, whichever stage of life you may be reading this at, I’ll bet it’s not too late to start. There’s always time for YOUR health, don’t you think?

5. Have Faith In The Internet – Amidst The Global Economic Downturn, It Will Hold It’s Own

I’ve touched on this in recent times, but now is probably a better time than ever to set-up an online, internet based business. I’m not the only one who seems to think so, with The Economist recently publishing an article that predicted that online spending will remain relatively buoyant, with particular mention to online advertising.

That means, that for those of us in high-demand, high-impact niches there is every cause for optimism. Big companies, in big niches will continue to offer big payouts through Adwords, CPA offers, and other general commissions. That means your blog/site, when in the right niche, should not see the type of slowdown and brutal wealth devastation that we’re seeing in the offline world.

It’s to do with a change it trend. It’s to do with the internet business model being a low-cost, high efficiency one. That’s why offline companies like Woolworths (UK) have gone bust, while online retailers like Amazon and Play.com have reported record holiday profits yet again. All of them sell DVDs, gifts, playstation games – but while Play.com and Amazon are able to utilise the benefits of an internet business model (with a fraction of the staff and real estate costs of Woolworths), Woolworths just could not compete – it refused to change in a changing world. It did not develop it’s web presence (indeed, it’s website and what it offered just could not stand up to those of established internet retailers). It was trying to use a business model developed in the late 1800s, when horses and carts were still in use – in an age where we have spacecrafts orbiting Mars.

There’s a lesson here for all of us – to keep our fingers on the pulse, to see and hear the winds of change coming and to act on them before we’re swept away.

Believe me, the internet as a source of income for more and more ordinary people is only starting. Wealth is being transferred from offline to online at a remarkable pace. And everyone, you included, can be a part of it.

Today I’m out to remind you that, as you get settled into your 2009 routine, you must never lose your hunger to learn new things. New ways of generating traffic. New ways of making your blog look better, and do new things. Because, the moment we switch off and think we know it all…it all changes, and we can find we’re knee deep in deep trouble.

So what is it you need to be doing? Simply to understand what the core customers and target audience in your niche wants, and to make sure you’re delivering exactly that. To get a feel for what skills and knowledge are key to provide your clients with these products or services. To do that, you really need to keep up with the current – keep learning, because that’s a key ingredient to increasing your revenues year on year.

Before we talk about learning though, it’s equally critical to understand exactly what it is that your clients want from you. Change can be important when the trends are shifting – but sometimes, inaction can be the only action required. Don’t believe me? Just ask ebay…

1. Understand What Your Business Clients Need And Don’t Fight Them…Look What Happened With Ebay – It Misread The Trends & Now It’s In All Sorts Of Trouble

In the recent past, John Donahoe (CEO of ebay) faced serious challenges and questions with regard to his leadership of the company. It seems that a lot of ebay clients are turning their backs on the giant auction firm in favour of low cost alternatives like Amazon and Play.com. The company’s stock levels are bumping along levels not seen since the dot com crash in 2001 – naturally, stockholders are pretty ticked off.

The main problem has been the change in ebays core business model, from being less of an auction site to more an ecommerce site – after years of being a successful online auction, Mr Donahoe inexplicably decided that ebay would change strategy and encourage more of their sellers to offer fixed price items, as you would find on sites like Amazon.

But why? The whole point of ebay is that it joins smaller, solo traders with the public. So that bargain hunters can find cool little products at prices they like. So Susan could potter around and find some unique trinkets of jewelry for a couple of dollars without leaving her bedroom. So Larry could find a DVD of The Rock and pay a few bucks to have it delivered at home. The bidding process was all part of the fun of ebay, many buyers were hooked on that very aspect of the auction site. That’s what made ebay so special. So unique. And ultimately, so very profitable.

Ebay failed to understand what people wanted from it. It failed to understand that it had a perfectly unique and successful business model, and moved away from this model in favour of a model crawling with competition, that small sellers found uneconomical and buyers failed to see value in. In the process, it aggravated it’s customers, sellers and stockholders alike.

Frankly, ebay has a history of making abrupt, often thoughtless policy changes that has harmed thousands of the very people who contributed to it’s success. For example the way it treated it’s digital product selling community has been nothing short of disgraceful. It didn’t listen to the protests then. It’s not listening now. 

This will apply to you only if you already have a vibrant business going –if this is so (and well done by the way) understand exactly what your clients WANT from your business. Then, deliver it. And, before making any ground-breaking changes, make sure it’s what your CLIENTS want, not what you think must be best because some guru somewhere sold a product or course that said so.
2. Your Knowledge Is One Of Your Most Powerful Assets – Just Ask Those People Making Five Figures+ A Month…Make Learning An Active Part Of Your Day

Say what you like about the internet – the simple fact is that there has never been a more incredible, genuine opportunity for individuals to earn staggering amounts with minimal outlay of capital. And, the beauty is that there are so many different online business models to follow, and succeed at. I cannot believe anyone would even consider doing a job, or setting up a bricks and mortar business, when they could be an internet entrepreneur.

Of course, there are challenges – such as learning the key information and skills that are needed to set up your business, and get traffic to it.

One thing that’s common to EVERY successful online entrepreneur is that they share a thirst for knowledge. They want to learn about ways of improving their business in every respect. They want to learn about increasing traffic, increasing their conversions on that traffic, building a list, using PLRs, using the social media phenomina to build business even more, learn about new sites that they can leech potential clients from… and this is always an ongoing process.

The best thing is that as the internet business niche has exploded over the past few years, the availability of learning material has sky-rocketed.

And it’s easier and cheaper to learn today than ever before – Whereas a decade ago when I first started my online business, I had to rely on poorly written ebooks to get a grasp of technical and theoretical concepts, today we can download videos and audios that teach us the same with a lot less pain and confusion. It’s really brilliant, and it means if you’re reading this as a newbie, you can master the learning curve with a lot less hassle than a decade or so ago. 

Ultimately, one of the laws of life is that whatever industry you’re in, the more you learn the more you’ll earn. Hopefully, you’re serious about setting up your own empire of niche businesses. In this economic era, there can be fewer better things you’ll ever aspire to do. And, if you’re serious then you’ll understand that learning is an integral aspect of getting to where you want to be. So, whether you’re currently earning zero or twenty grand a month, make learning an active part of each and every day.

If you can do that, and if you fearlessly apply everything you learn…the simple fact is that you’ll understand how to set-up and grow a flourishing business that has clients coming to it again and again, from all over the place. You WILL earn money, and probably more so than you might dare imagine. Or, as a worse case scenario, you’ll at least be able to get a high paying job as CEO of ebay and show it’s board how not to shoot itself repeatedly in the foot.

Access An Unlimited Vault Of Internet Business & Marketing Videos And Resources Rights Now At DRR Pro

Now, I’m far more tempered and humble in all areas of my life, but the internet marketing inner voice within me still wears that T shirt today, as proudly and arrogantly as in 1992. And, it’s helping me reach new summits in the world of internet business.

How about you? Are you as confident and bold in business now as you were towards life back in the day? Or are you more tempered, and cautious? And, is it possible that a little fear may be stopping you from surging ahead? Let’s find out… because today, I’d like you to consider putting on your own mental F C U K FEAR t-shirt – so that you can grow and develop your business without any worries, and take the considerable internet business returns that many ordinary people like you and I are making everyday.

Here’s a little more on why fear is counterproductive to your business and marketing, why it’s stopping you from doing all things from list building to traffic generation – and how you can overcome it…

1. Fear Is A Primitive Emotion That Has No Place In The Online Business World…

Unless you were bunking biology classes (and shame on you), you’d know that fear as an emotion came about because it helped animals and early humans escape primitive dangers such as being chased and eaten by a hungry sabre toothed tiger. It was important back then  because fear, in it’s extreme’s,  taught early humans to be wary. Cautious. It helped them to survive, and the ones who did not feel it often ended up as snacky-poo’s for old sabre puss. Ironically, they were the ones who would have probably done quite well in business were it not for the mauling.

Unfortunately, in today’s highly evolved world – where satellites orbit the earth and you can watch the Simpsons on your Blackberry – as emotions go, fear’s become a right old burden. Like your appendix, it’s become pretty useless, existing only to cause problems and serving no real purpose. Fear is responsible for many individuals and small business from evolving. Fear stops otherwise bright people from achieving their true potential. And, fear must be removed as you would a troublesome appendix.

2. Why The Fear? Many New Internet Entrepreneurs Are SCARED  To…

Fail. Fear and greed are two of the most powerful emotions in the world of business – and that applies as much to a large corporation with thousands of employees as it does to a work-from-home mom, plugging away at her internet marketing from her basement.

It’s normal to feel fear – fear of failure – fear of wasting your capital – fear of trying new advertising methods. The thing is, 100% of people feel it, but only 2% or so master it – and those are the people and the businesses who perform the very best in the world of business and marketing.

Want some examples?

Fear WON – In 2001, Yahoo was by far the biggest search engine around. It was the boss – the absolute baap of search engines. However, it couldn’t ignore a resurgent, but then very small, Google. With Google’s huge growth, and it’s rampant ability to attract more and more people to use it as their primary search engine, it seemed almost compulsory that Yahoo should have bought Google out while it had the chance. And the financial muscle.

Yahoo would have acquired Google’s growing client base. It’s technlogy. And stopped it’s biggest threat dead in it’s tracks – but it didn’t. Why? Basically, it bottled it. It was petrified by Google’s high asking price. So, it turned it’s back on the obvious business it should have bought out, and then set about on a series of magnificent purchasing blunders of useless, non competing companies and sites that barely added value (have you heard of Pixoria or Konfabulator? Me either, but Yahoo squandered a fair bit of cash on them). That fear, at that key moment in it’s history has relegated Yahoo to a footnote in the chronicles of internet marketing history. Chalk that up as a big win for fear.

Fear LOST – In 2000, two chaps by the name of Edward Wray and Andrew Black launched one of the internets first online betting sites – betfair. They had lots of fear and doubt going in – the internet, while growing, was still nowhere as rampant as it is today. Online bookies were practically a “pie in the sky” concept, and offline betshops like William Hill and Ladbrokes still ruled the hearts and minds of punters. These guys faced an incredible amount of uncertainty – would internet gambling really take off? Could they really dare to snatch the client base of the big betting shops? Would they be able to create an online betting platform that users would feel comfortable in using? And countless other issues. But, they saw the trend of the internet, saw how people wanted to stay at home to have a flutter, and ultimately bet on themselves. For the last results I have available, Betfair has over a million active users and has grown to be a multi million dollar company. The gamble certainly paid off for Betfair – and all because they saw past the fear.

3. How About You? Do You Feel Fear? That’s Ok, Do What You Have To Anyway…

Do you suspect fear may be holding you back from starting or growing your own business? Is there anything that you know you should be doing, but for some inexplicable reason, you’re not? Perhaps it’s finally picking a quality niche and hitting it with all you’ve got. Perhaps it’s advertising your blog/site, or even getting started with one? Perhaps it’s advertising or marketing your site because you’re worried about the time/financial investment.

Fact is, even the most confident and experienced among us can get scared if we look for reasons to. That little voice will always be there whispering nonsense in your ear – telling you that you’re making a mistake. That you’ll lose your shirt. That business and success isn’t for people like you. Sometimes, you’ve just got to close your eyes and take the plunge – because as long as your reasons for acting are sensible, fear is irrelevant. So, next time you hear that little voice, just tell the idiot to shut up. And do what you have to.

Fear?  F C U K it.

The following tips may help your business to grow – and sidestep the many challenges and obstacles that will inevitably arise, and firmly grasp the opportunities that are to be found everywhere in the world of online business.

The subjects are leadership, and key character traits you’ll need to develop as the head of your internet business…

1. You MUST Be An Effective LEADER

Being a leader is far more than being a manager. And, it does not matter if you read this as someone who runs a large company, or someone who’s creating ebooks from their garage. It applies equally to everyone.

The reason leadership of your internet business is important is that there is a tremendous pace of change in the world of online business. That means you MUST continually monitor your environment and see what’s happening out there. Change happens – consumer tastes and needs evolve, and if you are not providing what they want, then your very existence will be threatened. Change also happens in the way we can get business to our sites – you need to be aware of the trends, understand the most current cost effective ways of getting traffic and clients…because the moment you stop doing this, you’re in trouble.

Being a leader also involves monitoring your business environment. For example, what industry events could represent potential threats or opportunities for you? What skillset do you (and your team) have that can neutralise such threats and ride the opportunities all the way to the top?

Imagine if tomorrow a new law is passed that makes email marketing illegal or cost ineffective (and don’t think something broadly along those lines couldn’t happen). How would your business cope? What if most of your returns are generated through this method? Would your business die?

In fact, business is fraught with threats – who can forget the terrible consequences brought about by events such as the Google slap, or ebay banning digital products…and so on? Entire small businesses have been wiped out because the leaders of these business (often small businesspeople who didn’t know any better) failed to catch the trends in time. They were too busy doing their daily tasks – posting their ebay ads (etc), to understand that a hurricane of destruction was about to hit their business.

Please don’t fall into the same trap – if you have just five minutes, then perform a SWOT analysis on your business. Get a scrap piece of paper, and jot down the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your business as you see them. Open your eyes, and look at the bigger picture – if you’re reading this as a leader of your organisation (be it huge, or a one man show) then start acting like it.
2. Important Character Traits Of LEADERS – You Must Develop These To Keep Growing Your Internet Business

There are two character traits in particular that you must try and imbibe unto yourself – if you’re serious about leading your internet business to bigger and better things.

The first is directly linked to the above – it is to be PROACTIVE. Don’t wait for google to slap you senseless, or for ebays latest (and daftest) policy change to beat you up. Identify the warnings, and then do something before they hurt you. Or, even better, notice the trends and act on them so that you actually benefit from them. It’s no co-incidence that the most successful leaders, marketers and entrepreneurs are all proactive in nature.

The second is to be a GOAL SETTER – whatever you do, begin with an end game in mind. This is important because unless you start all your projects with a carefully mapped out plan, you’ll almost certainly end up drifting. Set goals for yourself and your business. If you have staff, set goals for them. Connect these goals for the greater good of YOUR company. What’s your core product? What do your consumers want? How will you deliver it to them at a quality/price balance that is better than the competition? What are your income targets? Before you do a jot of work on the “technicals” – please have your end game mapped out.

Owning, running and growing an internet business is a long term thing. It’s not easy at the best of times – but as long as you have a long term approach, and you keep doing the right things, good things will happen. And, after you taste success and start living the internet business lifestyle…you’ll wonder how you ever did anything else.

However, there are MANY different ways that people, just like you and I, are generating revenues online. Sometimes they make a few hundreds a month. Sometimes a few thousands.

The videos I’m about to show you will reveal no less than SEVEN powerful & proven internet business revenue streams that are a little “different” from the usual:

http://www.digitalresalerightspro.com/packages/7ways.htm

But, different is good – whenever we learn a new way of making money, we put a little bit more security into our lives. I can’t stress this enough – online, you’ve got to keep learning, keep trying and keep doing! Every new skill and technique you learn is worth it’s weight in gold if you truly want to live the internet business lifestyle.

1. 7 Ways To Make Money Online That Puts Cash In Your Pocket Fast – 1.5 Hours Of Quality Video Tutorials

The guy who developed these videos is called David Vallieres – no stranger to the DRR letter as we’ve featured his products before. In fact, I’ve learnt a lot through David in the formative years of my internet business years. He has a knack of presenting things well – in an interesting way that makes learning easy.

Another thing about David I like – he’s the sort of guy who’s income generation techniques typically require zero (or near zero) outlay…but get sensational results. He’s generated over 1.5m in revenues using the techniques he shares so that should have you sitting up and taking notes. And he has done and profited from everything that he shares with you in these videos.

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DRR Pro Members – This video series has been added to the members area for you, along with some additional PLRs to kick off what will be a BUSY September. If you wish to become a member, you can get this video set as part of your membership
here:
www.digitalresalerightspro.com
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In a nutshell, here’s what these videos cover:

A. An Interesting & Simple Amazon Money Maker. David seems to believe that this can generate 100k a year if done full time. Personally I think that’s a tad optimistic, but given that you could start this almost silly tactic within minutes…it’s certainly one everyone can have a go at and start seeing positive returns with.

B. The eBay Method – How’s this for an interesting way of setting up an in come stream. Don’t sell stuff – but still make an in come. It’s perfectly legal and permitted by ebay (for now).

C. How to set-up a digital publishing biz for yourself. This takes a lot more effort and time than the other two, but I’ve done this and it is VERY possible for anyone with a PC and a positive mindset to make a success of it. Pretty low outlay too.

D. Four additional methods of generating your first in comes. I don’t want to regurgitate what’s in the sales page, so if what I’ve told you so far sounds interesting…check it all out here:

http://www.digitalresalerightspro.com/packages/7ways.htm

** Remember, DRR Pro members, you get this as part of your membership.

2. “Help – I Just Don’t Know What I’m Doing!” – Beware The Scammers Who Prey On Newbies

A distressed client emailed me a few days ago, distraught by the fact that he has not been able to make so much as a red lettered cent on the internet despite 2 years of trying. When I delved a little deeper into it, I understood why – he’s been trying all sorts of questionable methods… things like online surveys (if you ever see something like this offering you access to a database run far and fast in the opposite direction).

I do not mean to sound mean, this is not what this newsletters about, but I respectfully submit that if you’re a newbie who’s trying to seriously get your little piece of the internet pie…have some common sense. Yes, there are a million offers out there many of which will be total bunk, but use judgement in deciding which is likely to be genuine, and which isn’t. Look at the pedigree of the merchant you’re buying from. How long have they been in business? Have they got a reputation one way or another? Make a list of questions before plunging in.

Sure, it’s easy to be duped, but when you get offers of a dubious nature – like 1 million hits for a tenner, or access to a database of company’s who will pay you hundreds in exchange for your thoughts on their latest tasty cola drink…it’s likely to be a scam. There are sharks in these waters, and unfortunately they guard the real internet gold pretty well. They prey on the lazy and stupid. See past them, and understand that nothing comes without a certain level of effort on your part.