How does one work from home and be considered an Internet Marketer, or IM?

I’m afraid that I may have to burst a bubble, you know the one where you think that working from home is all sugar, sweets and all things nice?

Here we go, *poof*!

Working from home is hard work. Internet marketing is an immense, and some say intense job.

What is required are dedication, a long term vision, and self-discipline.

First I will reassure you that neither am I trying to scare anyone nor desperately trying to minimise competitors.

I believe that it is extremely important for any would be internet marketers to be aware of the risks of this business because there are risks that needs to be addressed.

Risks that range from pitfalls of a scam trap (as 99.9% of all get rich quick schemes can be) to the simple matter of procrastinations or distractions in our everyday life.

I will talk more about risks in another post, but for now let me take you a little further into our subject matter.

So how does one work from home and be considered an Internet Marketer, or IM?

Loosely speaking you only need to sell something online and you are a qualified IM, but this process can be broken down further into:

1. Selling of things online,
2. Selling of services online.

Things can be handicrafts, your old cd albums, your dad’s unused fridge, or basically any physical things that can be can be held/touched with your hands.

Some of the more popular methods of selling these things are via websites (ebay, gmarket, blogs, etc) and classifieds (online auctions, ezines, forums, etc).

These methods can also be applied to the selling of services, which can be website designs, arts and graphics, accounting, or basically something that is of a serviceable nature.

Notice that all the methods discussed here are readily accesible at the click of a mouse and a web browser, and you will be amazed at just how minimal your requirements for starting out can be.

Here’s an example.

Let’s imagine that you have lots of Posters of celebrities and you want to sell them over the internet.

Here’s then what you might do:

1. Place an advertisement to market your poster: You can do this by visiting online classified sites like Craigslist.com or Gumtree.com and place an ad to alert potential buyers of your items. Do note that some sites provide free placement of ads while some may charge a certain amount of fee. Always check thoroughly for details like these before you place your ad anywhere.
2. Respond and negotiate with buyer:  Sometimes buyer simply chooses to purchase the item, and sometimes some prefer to do a little bit of negotiation. You will exchange messages until both party are satisfied and ready to transact.
3. Deliver posters and receive payment: When both parties agree, buyer will then give you payments either via secure online payment gateways (Paypal, Alertpay, Credit Cards) or they will request for cash to be sent to you via snail mail in envelopes. Upon receipt of payment you will then proceed to deliver the items accordingly.

This is just one of the many examples that may be illustriated to you, and I am sure that there is one very important element for all that kick starts the whole process, and this is simply, the advertisement.

The advertisement of the product for sale is the be all or end all factor that seperates the difference between success and failure.

I’m pretty sure that you would want to be a successful IM or else you wouldn’t be here at all.

So my advice to you is to take extra care, ensuring that you put out an advertisement that targets your target market, convinces potential buyers to buy, and is cost effective.

Cost effective means that it may incur an expense from your pockets but despite that, your advertising cost should not be hurting your sales margin in the long run.

There is no guaranteed formula for a perfect advertisement, but slowly and surely, and as you gain more experience within this industry, you will begin to notice that some advertisement will work for you and your product while some won’t.

No matter what, advertisements come in all shapes and sizes, and it will be up to you, and with a little guidance from HWS, to come up with one that complements your product and boosts your sales income.

Remember If you’re not earning a profitable paycheck at the end of the day or the month, then it’s not work.

There’s a name for it and it’s called a hobby.

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Author Bio: Mar is nowhere near the most successful internet marketing warrior but neither is he the worst ever. He holds a day job to spend his day working hard, plays games, like dota in the evening, and continuously markets stuffs online during most nights. He works hard trying to balance everything, so catch him at his blog and say hi.