In previous articles I have emphasised the importance of having a proven, do-able plan if you wish to become a successful internet marketer. Without a plan that you are willing to follow and to persist with, you will join the 99% of online marketers who never make any money on the internet. The amount of information available online and the dazzling possibilities and promises of untold riches being just a few clicks of a mouse away, will lead you astray into the never-never land of unread ebooks, unwatched videos and unused programs on your hard drive.

Eventually you just stop trying to earn money online. You have joined the 99%.

To understand the importance of a coherent plan, as opposed to a “dart board” approach to tasks, it is necessary to understand clearly what is required to earn money online. You will need:

1) To find a niche that has buyers and room for you to market. This will require you do research with keyword tools to ascertain searches for those keywords and competition for those keywords. Having the most wonderful product on the internet is of no use if nobody is looking for it. It is far easier to service a niche that already has high demand than it is to create high demand for a totally new product. Unless you can come up with the internet equivalent of the yo-yo. Something like the ipod would be good.

2) A domain name.

3) Webhosting for your website.

4) A website on your website.

5) A product to sell, or somebody else’s product to market on which you earn affiliate commissions.

6) A strategy or strategies to drive buying customers to your offer. Traffic, the lifeblood of internet business.

7) A method of receiving payments from your customers.

8) Opt-in pages to record the email addresses of your visitors/customers so you can build your list and market to them in the future.

9) An autoresponder to manage the email follow ups to your customers.

10) Free gifts with real value to encourage your contacts to remain on your list.

11) Good quality products that build your reputation and relationship with your customers.

12) New products to promote that enhance your customers’ experience of satisfaction within the niche you have chosen.

For starters.

I have not yet mentioned creating and managing affiliate programs, membership sites, website design, obtaining and creating content for your website and marketing endeavours, backlinks, SEO, Joint Ventures, list swapping… The list goes on. One thing you will certainly find in your first steps towards being an internet marketer is that one website leads to another website which leads to another website. Many of these websites are interconnected in arcane and intricate ways so that they both feed off each other and create demand for each other. Sort of like having your cake and eating it too. $37 here. $19.75 per month there. $27 there. Interesting fact. It has been proven that using the numeral 7 at the end of your price is the number which has the greatest success in converting sales. Have a look at the products for sale on the internet, especially the downloadable products. Far more often than not, the product price will end in 7.

You have a domain name? Cool, you will need webhosting for it. I recommend XYZ because they are efficient and I deal with them and I receive a commission for referring you. Webhosting? No problem. Here are our very competitive plans. You want a website to go with that? May I recommend ABC website builders. Excellent. You will be happy and I earn a commission for referring you. Your website looks good but you will need a Merchant Account or Gateway to process credit card payments. May I suggest using More Money Merchant Accounts. SEO? You will need professional assistance to maximize SEO. These people are very good and are my personal friends.

This intricate pattern of back scratching and multiplying income streams through associated products is not unethical in the least. But you should be aware of it and keep your credit card in your pocket unless you have a clear and present need for a product. Indeed, as you progress in your internet marketing business, you will take advantage of as many of these monetization methods as possible. Remember, the holy grail of the internet marketer is to create passive income streams. Income which does not require a great deal of hands on management. Anything else is just trading one boss for another.

In the next article we will look at some of the tools the internet marketer needs to prosper.

You need a plan!

Kindness is more important than wisdom.

Author Bio: Want to know how to create a $35k per month income? Then visit: Free Internet Marketer Plan right now, and grab your 100% free report which shows you step by step, exactly how to reach a cool $1k per day online, from the comfort of your own home. Martin P Kerrigan is an author, martial artist and successful internet marketer.

Category: Internet
Keywords: internet marketer,passive income,earn money online