The first question for anyone interested in Internet Marketing

Want to make money online in the Internet Marketing business?

Well first you have to answer this one question.

I really feel that a major reason that people just getting started with internet marketing struggle so much in the beginning is because they are confused about what it actually even is at a fundamental level. They hear all kinds of big income claims that they find hard to believe (hint: many of them are true actually, some are not). They hear new terms like cost per action, affiliate marketing, product creation, lead generation, squeeze page (this sounds like a torture device) and they get confused, they feel overwhelmed and end up bouncing all over the place and never actually getting anything done.

Now one thing I have said many times is that an online business is no different than any other business, you have to have a plan of action. The problem is that people tend to not realize that the term ‘online business’ or ‘IM’ is very general. They hear all kinds of things from all kinds of people and conclude that its all a bunch of made up nonsense without ever realizing that what they are actually hearing is valid information, just about totally different things that fit into the general term of internet marketing.

Let me explain it a different way. If you ask a restaurant owner what he does the answer is simple: He cooks and sells food. If you ask a garage owner what he does the answer is simple: He repairs cars. But if you ask 10 internet marketer what they do you will likely get 10 different answers. Does that mean just one person is doing one the right thing and the other 9 people are just making stuff up? Not at all. It just means that internet marketing is a very general term.

However there is one thing that every person in the internet marketing space has in common. While there are many paths to online success there is one question that everyone just getting started should, no needs to, ask themselves. The answer will not only shape their business, it will largely make what they need to do in order to be successful much more clear as it will  define the path they take.

So what’s the question? Simple: “What am I going to sell?”

People need to realize that internet marketing is no different than any other kind of marketing. At its core your just selling stuff. That is, my definition what marketing really is at a fundamental level. Just selling. In this case you just so happen to be selling on the internet, so your doing internet marketing (IM).

Software creation: Is easy to understand, you’re selling a software.

Training: Well you’re selling your knowledge.

Coaching: You’re selling your time and your knowledge.

Affiliate Marketing: Well you’re still selling, you just so happen to have made an agreement with someone who lets you sell their product or service. But you are still in the selling business.

CPA (Cost Per Action): Still selling. You’re selling leads to other companies.

Adsense: You’re selling clicks / traffic.

In fact no matter what you chose to do online you will be in the business of selling something.Many people just getting started online find IM confusing, frustrating and difficult. But the truth is this is not rocket science. In fact its not even ‘model rocket science’. Internet marketing is at its core nothing more than selling. You just happen to be using the internet as your advertising / delivery vehicle.

Because of this the very first question everyone just getting started must ask themselves. The one thing that you need to answer before you can make a single dime online is very simply: What am I going to sell? Answer that and you will have instantly removed a lot of irrelevant things that clutter the path to success. Once you answer this simple question you can work backwards and plan out exactly what you need to do in order to get to the point of making a sale on the thing you have chosen to sell.

Surprisingly though many people just getting started not only cant answer this question, they never even asked it of themselves. I submit that this is a large contributor to why they don’t get the success they desire. Not answering this question about your online business is like saying I’m going to open a physical store .. but I have no idea what is going to be in it. If someone told you that you would laugh at them. Yet people dive into the IM business every day with this very same mindset.

So my question to everyone reading this is just that: What are you going to sell?