Internet Business or Business on the Internet?

I want to tell you a story. Something that happened to me.

When I got started on the Internet, about 18 months ago, I was fascinated with all the offers and the promises of riches. I really wanted to be able to work from home, and I decided that this definitely was for me. So I started researching. And researching. And researching some more.

THAT WAS ONE OF MY FIRST BIG MISTAKES.

I researched so hard and so long, that I never properly got started.

Then I started buying, and buying and buying some more. But I never used any of the products I bought. I’d read halfway through an ebook or course, and then get interested in something else, and I’d buy that.

Then, I really wanted to put up a site and start to make money, but I spent so much time trying to learn all the tricks and try to learn search engine optimization and try to learn design and perfecting my idea, that it never really went anywhere.

I guess want I want to warn you against taking action… or rather the fear of taking action.

Don’t complicate things. Just get started. Just do it!

You can always improve things later on, or hire a designer when you’ve made a little money, but take action now - TODAY!

Get hosting, use CPanel and Fantastico to install a Wordpress Blog and start blogging about your favourite topic. JUST DO IT!

If you start blogging about the FIFA 2008 game and the secrets to playing it well, people looking for tips and secrets to this particular game will pick up your blog and start frequenting it. You will start to get to know them and interact with them. If you are an expert in this game, and through your interaction with your blogreaders, reveal that, they will literally start to beg you later on to sell them the secrets. THEN you can develop the product and get the shopping cart and hire the designer. For now, all you need, is to get started.

We can come up with a hundred excuses or find a hundred other things to do or learn before we get started, but that just makes the road to success so much longer and harder. Just get up from your butt, and START!

Once you are familiar with blogging and started to make it a habit to blog often, you can start to do research into what it is that you are interested in, that others can also benefit from. Then you can go get the membership at Wordtracker or Nichebot, or buy the latest and greatest keyword research tool to do your research with.

Even if you are still wondering whether or not this is for you, get a free wordpress blog and just play with it a little bit. Blog about your kids or your dogs or your ailments, anything really… and tell your friends about it. See what happens, whether they like it and whether they like your style of writing. The rest will come.

If you take ONE thing with you today, take these three words….

JUST DO IT!

Hi there all

I’ve finally managed to fix my blog up, however, my data and old posts are gone forever. I can start blogging again, at last, and I was wondering what to write in my very first post on my brand-new blog.

Well, something just happened to me as I was creating links in Google Affiliate Network for one of my niche sites, and I decided to blog about that.

I found this magazine, that is related to my niche. I was just about to add it to my list of links when I saw that on the cover of this magazine were the words: “Oh my G…” . Now I know that the Americans LOVE to use that phrase, but in my mind, taking the Lord’s name in vain, is and will always be blasphemy. I don’t know whether the editors of the magazine are Believers or not, but I think, if they are not - they should be more respectful towards the religion of others, and if they are - well, they should know better.

It created this dilemma for me: I really like the magazine, seems really nice and informative, however, I can not slap this link and image onto my website, and in the next breath call myself a reborn Christian.

Except for the (obvious) religious issue here, what must my web visitors think of me, when I openly display this image, while at the same time calling myself a Christian? Obviously, if I did that, I can not be trusted.

Now, if I were not Christian, it would be an entirely different matter. I could promote this and not even care about it, as I would have no conscious moral objection to it.

All of this brings me to the reason why I decided to write about this today.

How often do you compromise your values, beliefs and morals in order to achieve something? I’m not specifically referring to promoting products that you do not believe in, however they are included. I’m referring to lies told to the Taxman, in order to pay less tax, lies told to your spouse in order not to upset him/her, withholding information, going along with something you don’t agree with just so you don’t cause a ruckus or upset, or ignoring the immoral or wrongful behaviour of family or friends, just because you don’t want to be seen as “uptight” or “unsophisticated”?

I’m only human, and I do too make mistakes. However, I endeavour not to promote or recommend anything, that I do not believe is in the absolute best interests of my readers/ subscribers/ customers.

It’s a moral issue. How can I knowingly promote or recommend something I have not purchased or seen myself? Worse yet, how can I promote something I KNOW is worthless or faulty?

I see that very often, with people, websites and blogs just recommending things in order to make a quick buck. You know what I mean, you’ve seen them around. Just by reading their “review”, you can usually tell whether it was a “cut-and-paste” job, or whether they actually looked and formed an opinion about the product themselves.

Beware the “affiliate marketer”! Or should I say, “unscrupulous affiliate marketer”. Of course one can not buy each and every single product from a merchant before recommending it, BUT, you can
make up your mind by comparing products in stores or even on the Internet. What I mean by that is: You should not base your decision to market a product, on the amount of commission you will get. Let your conscience be your guide.

Example: Hundreds of marketers on the Internet claims to have the best information, secrets and tips on how to market your business on the Internet. Only a very small percentage of them, has real people (not other marketers) giving them testimonials.

A good example is Derek Gehl of the Internet Marketing Center. Yes, I agree, his claims sounds hypey, but he has REAL, LIVE NON-internet marketer testimonials on his site. He has helped thousands of real people to learn how to make a living on the Internet, including me. Yes, I own and use his products. Yes, they are as good as he (and others) says they are. HOWEVER, I’m not going to recommend you go out and buy ANYTHING, for the simple reason that I do not know who you are, what your needs are, or at which stage of business you are at.

I do want you to go do this little exercise. Visit Derek’s Testimonials page. Now visit all the pages of the products you were thinking of buying. Now, compare the two/ three/ ten. I hope you learn something from that. Heaven knows, with the recession and all that, you want to make sure to spend your money VERY, VERY wisely.

Take care, and I’ll blog again soon!

Regards

Louise Fourie