Internet Marketing Lessons – Four Lessons I Learned In My First 12 Weeks

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

Confucius

After working for 12 weeks and earning less money than a third-world sweatshop worker, I am understandably disappointed. That block of time was the liquid that flushed my self-esteem and my belief in my entrepreneurial ability down the proverbial toilet… But all is not lost. I have learned four important lessons that I’m going to share with you in this post.

1. Build A Fucking List
On the Warrior Forum, there is a interminable drumbeat of advice instructing the plebeian mass to build a list. I, being the idiot I am, decided not to build a list. I realise now that an email newsletter provides the opportunity to build a relationship with your prospects, and that that relationship makes more credit cards appear.

So, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t build a list. Well…

2. Don’t Be Afraid To Invest A Little Money
I didn’t want to spend any money, and so gleefully pissed away my time and effort when a little cash could have produced results.

I know many newbie internet marketers waste their money on products that are supposedly akin to the goose that laid golden eggs or on ads that they can grin at and feel as if progress is being made. The reality is that they’re throwing money at a problem in the hope it will solve it. I accept that this can be a problem for some, although it isn’t a problem that I personally suffer from, being the spend-shy bastard that I am.

No: I’m discussing spending a paltry sum on something that provides an obvious advantage. All I had to do was invest the pittance necessary to have a list… But I didn’t because I was determined to spend nothing. It’s all very well not wanting to lose a substantial amount of cash while you learn the ropes, but clenching too tightly onto your money is like fastening a ball and chain to your ankles.

3. Implement Ideas That Will Make A Decent Income
At first I thought that these people who get all happy-clappy over their first 79 cents could be inspirational — hell, I was one of them — but now I think they’re just outright fruity-loop losers. Some of these people have been working for years to earn peanuts. If you plan to make a self-sustaining income from the internet, then you better follow the strategy that is going to earn more than $100 a day rather than the strategy that makes 10 cents a week. It seems so simple when you put it into words, but it seems that everyone and their dog has their dreamy eye so fixated on making millions that they cannot see how badly they’re doing.

4. Don’t Keep Following A Losing Strategy
Thankfully, I realised that I was wasting my time, and now I can start doing something that has a real chance of making a respectable income. While there is something to be said for seeing things through to the end, there is also the time to try something different. I’m not going to continue playing for pennies when I could be playing for pounds.