I have only been on the internet as a marketer for 12 months. I have had more downs that ups but am beginning to see the fruits of my labor. Most internet marketing newbies find one product through happenstance that gets them going online. I did and was lucky that the early products were good. The second and third products taught me a few things but were not as good as the first. When you find something good you get motivated. A bad or difficult course can put you off completely. You need direction and a plan to get you started but you also need something else.
September 2003 was a year I will never forget. I went for a routine mammogram and got the worst news possible. DCIS, breast cancer . . . .or pre-breast cancer. I was living in Spain at the time and it seemed all the doctors (3 different opinions!) wanted to perform a mastectomy because the two tiny tumors were considered "multi-focal". That meant that maybe there were more that couldn't be seen yet. I was pretty shocked . . . bumping into walls was more like it. But I didn't believe the diagnosis and set about to make sure before I did anything. 6 years later after a lumpectomy and radiation, I am still me, in my entirety. I didn't go along with the first diagnosis, or the second or even the third . . .
There are two reasons why I did not go along with the doctors and their grim diagnosis (they were very reputable doctors who had a belief they were going to save my life):
The internet and Perseverance
I spent days on the internet searching for everything I could about DCIS. I learned that the basic treatment options were lumpectomy and radiation and or mastectomy based on the patient's desire. After the information gathered on the internet, I flew to the US to see a top oncologic surgeon in Atlanta who confirmed what I had hoped. Lumpectomy and radiation would be his treatment.
Perseverance paid off. Had I gone along with the first *3* doctors and not spent a few thousand dollars/euros searching I would have undergone that radical surgery without cause.
How does this relate to starting an online business? Of course you can't do it without the internet! And one must persevere to really make it happen. The internet is the information highway (in my case), the foundation, the medium for the business. It is the here and now and it is the future. Anyone who can start and build an online business while moving with the tide will be part of the future. But you also must have the perseverance to keep going. It is hard sometimes when your family doesn't believe in you or your friends simply can't understand why you don't have time to play games on Facebook or chat on the phone for an hour because you have to get back to work. It is a labor of love. Its work but its fun and the rewards are amazing. So stick with it and you won't regret it.
Working on my final career - internet marketing. 12 years in hotel sales and marketing, 10+ in executive recruiting in Taiwan and 6 selling property in Valencia Spain. I now know what I want to be when I grow up - an internet marketer! Lived in Hawaii, Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium and Valencia, Spain and have recently repatriated to the mountains of N Carolina. I am totally in love with Spain and will retire there in 5-10 years. I wish I had known about internet marketing when I was a trailing spouse for a few years.Mother, internet marketer, dog owner/lover, food and wine enthusiast, serial traveler, avid lover of sunshine and outdoor living, reader and a whole bunch of other stuff!
