When one is running their own business, sucess or failure is the result of  actions taken by themselves. It all comes down to individual responsibility. This is why motivation is important. With no one looking over ones shoulder it is easy to let things slip and be diverted from the path one has set for themselves.

To help me stay focused I have set up a meeting with a coach/mentor for tomorrow morning. I am fortunate enough and definitely old enough to know when I need a bit of help. It is also important too to keep an open mind on where that help might come from. I know that from time to time I will need help of various kinds and have decided to start putting a team around me.

This team will not necessarily have a formal structure, more a number of individuals with the skills I need to get over various blockages as they arise. The important thing is that I have the courage and the humility to ask for the help when I need it.

What has all the foregoing got to do with Internet Marketing you might ask. I believe it has everything to do with it because it is to do with developing a mindset for success. Writing about it just helps to clarify the steps I need to take to make the necessary changes.

Today I am going to sit down and draw up a list of goals for myself. I will do this in three stages, one year, two years and five years. When complete I will share it with you. From that it should be possible to develope a plan.

I heard a friend of mine say that one should never change ones goals but that a plan can always be changed to help one achieve those goals.

1) I have been to two seminars, one in Chicago and one in Dublin.

2) I have bought a number of products and have been learning some new stuff.

3) I have been working on my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

4) I decided I need to become more techicnally literate and started to delve into more new information.

The outcome of all the above activity was that I suffered from information overload and lost focus. I became discouraged and felt that I was incapable of becoming successful at Internet Marketing.

It has not been a complete waste of time however as I have made a little money and learned a few valuable lessons. Among the lessons I have learned is the fact that while information is good and necessary, too much information in too short a time may not be so good.

I have a Clickbank account with over $50 in it. I have almost 15,000 followers on Twitter which is a source of fun, friendship and shared ideas.

Facebook has been a great source for making new friends particularly people like myself in my own country. I now meet some of these people in the real world where we share ideas and information. We also keep in contact to support and encourage each other.

To summarise I have come to the realisation that this business of Internet Marketing needs focus and dedication just like a real world business.

Information while good and necessary is no substitute for action no matter how imperfect that action might be. Action on a sustained basis will eventually produce results.

You can expect to hear from me again soon.

Some were already in business but wanted to learn more because there is always more to learn.

The real bonus was the speakers who had all achieved success in varying degrees. Some were making good money on a part time basis,working towards the day when they could give up their regular job. Others were making five and six figure incomes from their businesses and spoke of the freedom that was one of the rewards for their efforts. The common denominator for everyone was that the all started from scratch just like me.

I’m seriously considering going to London from Feb. 28th. to March I st. The UK  Entrepreneur Convention ‘09 is taking place then. I’m sure I could learn some interesting ideas from listening to the panel of speakers. Click on the link above if you want more details.

Good luck on your journey.

I set up my Auto-responder on Aweber mainly because that’s what was recommended to me. There I store my messages that are sent to people who request information from me. For example if someone subscribes to my updates they will get an email asking them to confirm their subscription. Having confirmed they then get an email from me thanking them for subscribing. This is called double opt-in and eliminates any issues  in relation to Spam. There is also an unsubcribe link at the bottom of each email once again ensuring that I am fully compliant with Anti Spam regulations.

Rember this is a business and it is best to adhere to best business practices and any regulatory requirements in order to keep it up and running on a continuing basis.

The attraction of an Internet based business is the low start up cost. It is possible set up a business on the web for under $100 and own it all. Compare that to setting up a shop in a high street building or in a mall where you have the cost of  leasing, fitting out, stocking up, hiring staff etc….etc….

There are similarities however. Your website is your shop window and as such it’s purpose is to attract potential buyers. Just as in the real world presentation and display is important. You can have special offers or sales to attract more potential buyers.You can communicate these offers to your list via email. People who come to your website from your list are more likely to become customers.After all  they already know a little bit about you and have chosen to come as the result of an invitation.

Notice that I have use the word "potential" in relation to buyers. It is all very well getting people to look at your lovely window or visiting your website. The only reason for setting up a business is to make money. So we need to get potential buyers into our shop/website and to convert them into satisfied customers. This is the challenge that faces all business people. The most basic element of sales and marketing is giving the potential buyer what will meet his needs and show a profit for us. Building our list is the akin to building up a client base in the real world.

Sometimes the person will tell us what he wants. Sometimes we have to ask, so establishing a rapport with the person is important. On the Internet this done using newsletters, ezines, giving  free samples of our products, social media ect. The list of ways of building rapport grows daily. It is important to be real and be yourself. If a person gets to know you, they will probably get to like you and then to trust you and so it will be much easier to convert a potential buyer into a customer. listbuilding is about building relationships Remember that it is one human being dealing with another human being so be honest and fair with every one you come into contact with, work hard at building your list/customer base and someday soon you and I will be able to live the Internet Lifestyle .

It is my intention to keep my readers and subscribers informed of my progress. I will try  to record the things I tried  in my listbuilding efforts.I will inform you of the list building stratagies that worked and the things that did not work in the hope that you do not have to waste too much time on the latter.

There are a number of excellent and ethical marketers on the internet at the moment and some of these offer  free  listbuilding resources to beginners. The reality is that there are no free lunches and the good stuff has a price. The good news is that there seems to be a shift from charging a large one off price for products relating to listbuilding, to making these products available on a monthly subscription basis. Expect me to name names in following posts.

PS  Click here for a listbuilding resource!