When it comes to Internet Marketing, or any kind of business, there are certain things that MUST happen BEFORE any sales or money can be made. Initially you'll need to prepare yourself mentally and practically before you start your venture. You'll need to set up your Business Plan, with all of its different components. Briefly, this would include writing out a Marketing Plan, explaining what your product is and how you will sell it. Then you'll need to develop a Strategic Plan that includes your Mission Statement.
And don't forget a Financial Plan that contains how much you need to spend to how much you expect to generate - in profits. Putting together all of these plans may seem like a lot of hassle, but success will be illusive without these firm, concrete foundational blocks in place. All large, successful companies started with someone completing this set of plans, so doesn't it make sense to follow in their footsteps? Even if you are planning on staying small, I'm assuming you still want your business to be successful. After all, it's only after you've got your plans in front of you that you can focus in like a laser on operating your business. This is when you can begin to take the actions needed that will bring you profits; things like finding the proper places to promote the product or products you've chosen, etc.
You'll need an attitude of willingness and patience when you are first starting out. Most of all, you'll need to adopt and keep a positive outlook for yourself and your business. You can do this by writing down your goals.
Make sure your goals are consistent with your values, so you will be able to reach them. As you reach each goal, you will build your positive attitudes more and more. These goals will actually become part of your Business, Marketing, Strategic, and Financial Plans. You should name your business and set up a legal structure for your business with the help of a qualified Attorney and/or Legal Professional. They can also help you in determining what Business/Sales licenses are required, if any.
You'll want to find, define, or create a product to sell; something that you believe people will want. Think about your own passions and hobbies to try to determine what others might be most interested in. Just look around at people like Tiger Woods and you'll quickly see how powerful it is when you tap into something you love to do and find a way to make money with it. Next, you'll need to find the correct places to promote it, the places that people in that niche actually spend some of their time in. Because it is only then, that you can begin to attract them and get them interested in purchasing whatever it is that you'll be offering. This is an aspect of marketing called Niche Sourcing and is a method of generating cash flow that is truly ingenious! It's one of those things that seem completely obvious once you've learned about it.
But, it's easy to miss it until it has become a part of your normal thinking process. Not until you have completed these fundamental, yet crucial steps adequately, will you have a real chance at making sales and profits for yourself. Matching a product promotion directly to the right potential prospect is not just something that 'should' be done. It is in fact - what MUST be done! I strongly believe that having this information will smooth the process for new, aspiring marketers to get off to the right start. And maybe it will help a few struggling 'seasoned' marketers, who haven't taken these steps, to turn their businesses around.
I've seen too many marketers make the mistake of not choosing a specific and defined niche to promote to before moving on in their campaigns. And this has led to their ultimate discouragement and failure to make it in their business. Having a thorough understanding of this short and to-the-point series of concepts, I expect to see more and more people become successful affiliate marketers. And even more people achieving and enjoying the dream of living the highly desired successful Internet Marketer's lifestyle as well.
This is just a brief outline of the first few steps that are necessary to implement in order to create and maintain a successful Marketing Business, particularly an Internet Marketing Business. If you don't know how to complete these steps, you owe it to your financial future to educate yourself further on preparing your business. Permission is granted to reprint this article, free of charge, providing the article remains unchanged and the author's resource box is included in the reprint.
Jason Oman is the co-Author of #1 best-selling book, "Conversations with Millionaires", was featured as a 'Success Story' in Brad Richdale's infomercial, "Creating Wealth" and he is President of Money Systems Technologies, Inc., a marketing firm focusing on wealth building, book marketing & author publicity. Click Here For An In-Depth, Exclusive Free Report on completing the steps needed to prepare your business for success.