My plan for this blog in early 2009 was to share what I had learned during the many months I was gathering information with a special emphasis on baby boomers … any revenue I expected to get would come from referrals to products I recommended in my free email course or in some blogposts  … not through a bunch of advertisements on the blog …

Here is an excerpt of an article titled ‘How does an Aspiring Internet Marketer get Started‘  I wrote a few weeks ago:

“There is a lot of free information on the internet and it’s very tempting to spend hours everyday reading and gathering all the information you think you might need to start some form of internet marketing business.

Wandering from blog to website to blog you could be spending a lot of time somehow believing that you will find all the information you need to start your own business and of course this might happen if you know what you’re shopping for!

When you go shopping for ingredients for a meal you start with a list in hand for the specific ingredients you know you are missing so when you explore the internet for information it would make sense to be looking for answers to questions you already have!

However, if you don’t have a definite plan, you’re going to run into business models you had not even thought about so you get a glimmer of another way you could be doing business and begin to follow that path until some other tempting offer catches your eye!

Then you have the problem of copying, printing and filing all that information … I know what that’s like because I did it all and I ended up more confused in spite of the piles of so-called information I was accumulating and all my newsletter subscriptions.

I got some binders, and spent many hours organizing and filing so that even if I was not actually in business yet I had a file clerk … ME! At the end of a day spent in that file clerk role I would sometimes experience the sense of accomplishment a company employee gets after a job well done but only for a moment – no paycheck!”

To get back to Jackie Lee‘s article, she says:

“Do you know what work you need to be doing today, and tomorrow and the next day?

Creating a profitable business comes down to, first and foremost, clarity.

You have to be clear about what you’re doing, what your business model is.

If you aren’t clear you’re going to end up spinning your wheels.Taking ineffective action. Wasting time chasing money around.”

OK! I don’t want to be wasting time chasing money around … but I do want to generate more  income and I prefer to not have a bunch of ads greeting my visitors.

So I’ve made some decisions and here’s what I need to begin with:

1. Offer some useful and desirable services providing me some affiliate commissions

2. Pursue and maintain connections with other people online that provide value to my clients and me.

3. Write helpful blog posts and articles that will benefit readers interested in a home business.

4. Continue to offer free downloads with valuable information.

This list will probably be growing in the coming days as my plans take shape.

Related posts:

1. Add-Ons and Construction:Getting Your Business Into Shape for 2011 #5
2. Time for Remodeling – Getting Your Business Into Shape for 2011 #4
3. Getting Your Business Into Shape for 2011
4. End of Year Home Business Inventory: Conclusion A Blog is not a Business!
5. Year 2011 New Direction: Where Do I Go From Here?

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Well, you might remember the ’6-part course I recommended here … offered by Melissa Ingold of Sweetie Marketing? The first lesson was about taking your business inventory for clarity… so I took a careful inventory of what I was doing in my business

Here are the titles of the six free lessons:

Download Week 1:Taking Your Business Inventory right there, and
sign up for the next lessons.

Week 1: Taking Your Business Inventory
Week 2: Operation Clean Out
Week 3: Maximizing Efficiency
Week 4: Time for Remodeling
Week 5: Add-Ons & Construction
Week 6: Long-Term Planning

The first lesson was about taking your business inventory for clarity…  So I did and as a result was faced with the question:  do I even have a business?

Boomers making money online was my target objective when I started this blog in February 2009 and following my plan I’ve provided plenty of free information including a free email course, but is that a business?

It seems that instead of focusing on monetizing that model I have been engaging in some of the activities that Melissa describes in lesson one:

“set up new websites, join affiliate programs, create information products, and just build, build, build. And with the niche-marketing craze that seemed to take over from around 2004-2006, some online business owners have a tangled web of things to sort out. Others may have stayed serving the same market, but found themselves a bit scattered as they came up with all these great ideas and new projects.”

Everyday email brings me new offers and fresh ideas on “how to make money
online” that demand some investment of time thus diluting focus and
concentration.

After going through this  inventory exercise I’ve decided to make some changes in this blog that will help create a lower-maintenance, higher-profit business without detracting anything from the free resources I now provide.

Much more to come!

Fran 

Related articles
What Is YourBusiness (internetmarketingformommies.com)

Anthony Tjan: The Best Business Model in the World (huffingtonpost.com)

Related posts:

1. The Build-and-Move-on System of Affiliate Marketing (3)
2. Running a Successful Home Business: How Scary Can it Be?
3. Time for Remodeling – Getting Your Business Into Shape for 2011 #4
4. Getting Your Business Into Shape for 2011
5. Taking Your Home Business Inventory for Clarity

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OK here’s a long sales letter, yea it says that this expert who wrote the ebook will teach him absolutely everything he needs to know, so he pushes the Pay Now button and forks over whatever it costs to get him on the road to riches…gets it downloaded, great!

He starts reading the first 20 pages of the 95 page ebook and feels like he got thrown in the deep end of the pool on his first swimming lesson… will he feel better in time for his second lesson? he might never get motivated enough to visit that pool again… or get on the internet again to learn how to make money!

He might let the marketing ebook sit on his hard drive for a few days, then skim through a few pages and phew… decide this stuff isn’t for him!

Information is all over the internet… but the people needing the information might be overwhelmed by getting too much too soon. Some experts might think that they’re doing their prospects a favor by delivering a huge comprehensive product, but the beginner is overwhelmed when facing all this intricate information, he doesn’t have the knowledge or understanding about organizing it all so he uses very little of it or just lets the whole thing sit on his hard drive.

You might have some experience in different forms of doing business or be an expert in some kind of work and still feel like a beginner when getting acquainted with online marketing until you start getting answers to your questions

Getting back to the swimming analogy, a beginner needs to get used to the new environment and start by blowing bubbles first or in the world of internet marketing get to know the terminology and then move along step by step until comfortable with the way one thing leads to another.

You might be thinking “that’s all well and good but how many ebooks have I read and then thought, okay, now what do I do?”

You’re right, the big comprehensive ebook I mentioned earlier is not what a beginner needs… you need step by steps lessons with understandable action instructions leading you to the results you desire.

Even if you know where you want to go, you still need directions!  You
could sign up for my free email course for a step by step approach to
learning about different to make money on the internet.

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The movie, The Secret, is all over the internet at present, but although many people who’ve seen the movie talk about manifesting their goals… and putting up pictures and messages they can focus on, I wonder
how many have the lasting conviction to follow through with the
necessary action steps to reach their goal.

Many years ago when my husband read and re-read Napoleon Hill’s
‘Think and Grow Rich’ we had some animated discussions about the
concept of aspiring to make a lot of money, something I treated with
disdain!

I’ve changed my mind about that… I’ve come to believe that
there’s nothing wrong with planning to make money… in
fact the people who are constantly worrying about not having
enough money are probably more obsessed with the darn stuff
than someone who sets goals to make plenty of it!

It’s quite possible to lead an ethical life while planning to succeed in your purpose of becoming rich and living a truly abundant life. It’s a
matter of balance, the father or mother who are concentrating on
their goals of becoming successful with their business are just as
capable of making enough time for their children as the parents
who are at the mercy of low income or even middle income jobs
with little control over their life.

You might very well have had some experience in different forms of doing business or be an expert in some kind of work and still feel like a beginner when getting acquainted with online marketing until you start to get answers to your questions.

You could stop worrying about making enough money and try my email course for Apprentice  Bloggers/Marketers… I started writing it because
I like the idea of helping people who might be just starting out, and continuing to help as they progress. You’ll get plenty of action steps!
http://www.apprenticemarketergazette.com/free-ecourse

Related Post:(about ‘Think and Grow Rich’ on MP3)http://www.apprenticemarketergazette.com/boomers-making-money/ultimate-philosophy-success

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LESSON 1 – OVERVIEW -
1. What is the internet?
2. What is the world wide web?
3. What is a browser?
4. What should a new marketer expect?
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 2 – OVERVIEW
1. Making Money Online without a website?
2. Freelancing or ghostwriting, Private Label or RRsale
3. Writing small reports, EBooks, Creating software,(clickbank,affiliates)
4. Affiliate Marketing.
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 3 – OVERVIEW
1. Advantages to having a website or a blog.
2. Helpful information about choosing a website
3. Helpful information about choosing a blog
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 4 – OVERVIEW
1. How having a website or a blog opens the door to possibilities
2. Adsense – CPA
3. Selling advertising
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 5 – OVERVIEW
1. Selling your own products
2. Selling as an affiliate
3. What is a Niche?
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 6 – OVERVIEW
1. More about Affiliate Marketing
2. More about Niches
3. Introducing Keywords
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

LESSON 7 – OVERVIEW
1. More about Keywords
2. Introducing Adwords
3. Promoting Traffic
ZOOM AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE – COLLECT A FREE DOWNLOAD

That’s a good beginning I think… I haven’t even mentioned autoresponders and that is how the lessons are delivered – I’ll start the
next set of seven lessons with one lesson about autoresponders and
how important they are to facilitating the business of marketing… couldn’t do it without without them!

Do consider signing up for this course if you have any desire to learn about making an income on the internet…

I don’t know it all but I know where to send you to find out!

Fran

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