Internet Marketing – Shop Around for Training Material

The internet is awash with all kinds of information about internet marketing. There are e-books, manuals, videos, courses, – you name it! With so many opportunities being offered from so many different sources it is difficult to tell the good from the bad, and, make no mistake, a great deal of the stuff out there is bad; – very bad.  The words of George Bernard Shaw come to mind: “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches”. Sadly, a great deal of the internet ‘expert’ guidance comes from those who are most definitely NOT expert. As a musician, some of my colleagues hold the view that many music critics are actually failed musicians who spend their lives slagging off those who had the talent and the work-ethic to succeed. You will find that many actors have a similar view of theatre critics.

So, how do you sift through the overload of information on the internet to find what’s right for you. Here are a few tips that will help you choose the right source of information to select something of value which will genuinely assist you in building a successful online business. The ideal is to have a mentor to help you to establish your online business, but this can be expensive. A cheaper alternative is to track down high quality information on the internet.

The first thing to say here is that you always check the credentials of the person offering an internet marketing training course or related information product. It is so important, if you are going to invest a sizeable sum of money, that you know the offer is coming from a genuine source. It is not difficult to do such checks. Just put the name into your search engine and see what comes up. If the person is authentic that will be immediately clear. If the person is a charlatan and offering a useless product you can guarantee that your results page will light up like a Christmas tree with scores of warnings and articles of condemnation.

Dismiss immediately any websites which make unrealistic claims. If something seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is! Hyperbole is common place in much advertising, especially on the internet. If a sales letter makes claims of thousands of pounds/dollars a month within a matter of a few weeks working just a couple of hours a day, ignore it. That isn’t saying that it hasn’t ever been done, but the incidence of such a level of success is rare, especially for someone new to the business, and tends to be just a one-off anyway.

It is possible to find lots of valuable information covering many of the important aspects of setting up a business online, much of it free. Just because the information is free, doesn’t mean that it is poor information. Research is a major part of internet marketing, especially in the early stages of building a business. If you are prepared to put in the time and effort you will be well rewarded with the amount and quality of the information you can locate. This information can come in a variety of different formats, from e-books to CDs; from manuals to DVDs or downloadable videos.

The way that products are presented on a website or sales page will tell you a lot about the quality of the offer being made. As mentioned above, be wary of outrageous claims made in the sales letter. In good copy there will usually be a warning that success cannot be guaranteed and that the setting up of an online business takes time and effort. It is usual to be given a 100% money-back guarantee with all online products. If this offer is not made, I would leave it alone and look elsewhere. The quality of the writing on a sales page can be a giveaway too. A good marketer will ensure that the page is well written, even allowing for ‘sales language’ which doesn’t always follow the rules of good grammar. There is also the old ‘gut feeling’ we all get when faced with something new. If you have such a feeling when viewing a website or reading the sales copy you would be better off shopping further afield.

There is good, reliable information out there but a lot of dubious material too. Take great care in searching out the quality information you need before opening your wallet or handbag.