Hi Mario,
You write:
"I 'm obviously very new to this type of industry and would like to know the quickest (6 -12 months) proven way to $2000-3000/month."
Life does not offer a guarantee, particularly in business. But, let's see if we can give you some ideas.
* You need to put together a business plan.
* In putting together a plan, you need to make a couple of decisions. These decisions will reflect your strenghts and weaknesses.
Do you want to market other people's products or services, your own product or service, or some combination of both.
* There are certain mental factors which are important.
Success does not happen over night. It takes what some call the three p's. Persistence, practice and patience.
A goal of a year is realistic, providing you stay away from the highly competitive areas, although you may wish to create some cushion.
There is no manna from heaven, but you can create your own success.
Are you willing to change? Move beyond your own comfort zone? Stay focused? Do what it takes? Learn new skills?
* You need to create a budget. True, you can minimize costs and many resources you will require are free or low cost. But, it still takes some money.
* Running a business involves sales. This is a fundamental reality.
The Internet does create an opportunity. The start up costs are lower and you can leverage off the speed and versatility of the Internet. But, you are still running a business.
Let's bring this down to the specific for a moment: -
One possibility is to establish and develop a direct marketing business in which you market either your own product, the products of others, or some combination.
The products can be soft products - software, information products and the like; or
The products can be hard products - durable goods.
* Marketing other people's products. Typically this means you are looking at some form of business opportunity.
(In looking at a business opportunity, you may find this article of value -
How To Choose A Biz Opp Without Losing Your Shirt)
* As part of the process, you want to have an understanding of how the online world works from the marketer's perspective.
There are some excellent resources which you can access to assist you in this process. Some are free (just because the resource is free should not demean the value) others are paid.
Here is a short list - I am sure others will have their own favorites:
Basic Materials on Marketing:
Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
(You can get a copy of this e-book through the
Newbie Club - free to join.)
7 Secrets To Unlimited Traffic by Allen Says
The Affiliate Masters Course by Ken Evoy
(These materials are free.)
I happen to be a fan of the Evoy product line. Others favor Corey Rudhl's product line. Yanik Silver has also put together an excellent set of "How To" products.
Whichever you choose, the investment is worth the money providing you apply what you learn.
Specific areas of focus:
* Understanding Search Engines:
A good place to start is a site called
Search Engine Watch
There are some excellent services which can aid you in this process
Building A Customer Base:
You need to have a presence.
The First Website Builder Course is helpful.
Evoy markets a product which can allow you to get up and running within a short period of time.
Many people swear by it.
Here is a sample of the type of business you can create
Using Site Build It
Despite all the talk about the demise of e-mail, e-mail continues to be an excellent method for distributing your message, if done properly.
Email for Newbies is useful.
The Amazing List Machine by Paul Myers is an excellent primer on the process of building a customer list.
Co-Reg-List-Building-Secrets System by Ed Thorpe is a first class resource.
Other methods:
I have not referenced all the specialized methods.
Writing articles and using the press can be a powerful method of promotion.
Working and creating joint ventures can be an extremely lucrative way of generating sales.
There is also pay per click and google adwords just to name a few.
* However you decide to proceed the best guidance - just do it.
In building a business, you need to have a "brain trust." People you can trust and you can bounce ideas around in confidence.
You can develop these relationships through Private Member Sites:
(These can be useful - some people have built their business on the guidance received.)
Two which I can suggest:
International Coalition of Online Professionals
(You can join this organization and access an excellent set of resources and get some great guidance.)
The Internet Marketing Warriors
A lot of invaluable information can be found as a member of the Warriors including some excellent "how to guides."
(To join the Warriors you need to purchase a related product with membership being a bonus. If you need hosting, the Warriors offers a good program which is the link I happen to have provided.)
In the alternative, you can pick up a copy of
How To Become A Global Internet Tycoon written by Allen Says (which is worth the read) and as an added bonus become a member of Warriors and gain access to the Warriors Forum.
There are others. These just happen to be the two I frequent the most.
You may also want to use the Public Forums. Some of these are quite good:
Anthony Blake Online - Entrepreneurial Success Forum
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
Seeds of Wisdom Forum - Dien Rice
http://www.sowpub.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl
Cyber Marketing Info Board - Jim Daniels
(Hey, you already know about this one.)
How To - Internet Marketing - Michael Green
http://www.howtocorp.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_config.pl/index
Phil Wiley’s - Affiliate Discussion
http://www.ozemedia.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config.pl
(Phil markets a product titled
Mini-Site Profits - very good guide for those interested in seizing the moment.)
Info Profits Talks - Louis Allport
http://tinyurl.com/rf8u
(For those of you who are not familiar with this forum, Louis has set up a neat feature for his forum. You can post a feed on your site which links to the new posts on the site, creating ever-green content.
There are many others. This is a very short list.
Obviousily this is not complete guidance, but rather an overview.
I do trust these comments are of some value and help to move you in the right direction. Wishing you every success.
Underlying all of this? Overcome your fears and start the doing.
Kind regards,
John Glube
Toronto, Canada
Discover How Anyone Can Get More Buyers