This is a question that regularly gets asked on Internet marketing forums: what is the best piece of Internet Marketing Advice you have been given?

So I thought I would give my answer here.

If you have absorbed as much Internet marketing information as I have, then the information tends to get a little bit blurred as to who gave what advice.

It may be hard to put a finger on “The Best” piece of advice. But one piece of advice that has stood out for me over the years came from a guy called Joshua Shafran, and to sum it up in a nutshell, it was to sell something “real” online first (rather than affiliate info products). This could be selling things on EBay and Amazon, or selling a service like writing articles or website set up. Basically utilize your existing skills, knowledge, abilities and/or sell-able items, to make money. This goes against some of the advice I received when I was starting out, such as: never sell your time for dollars. Or the idea that making money online is not about selling! How many times have you seen the immortal line “No Selling Involved” on a sales page? Personally I think it is important to have an understanding and experience of how to sell.

I think the above advice is good because it puts you in a “sellers” mindset instead of a buyer/learners mindset. It builds confidence due to the fact that you are making money from the start. While it is important to keep learning, some people stay stuck in this “buyer/learner” mindset for years but never make any money.

This also seems to tie into something I read on a blog post by respected Internet marketer Jim Cockrum about where to start with an Internet business. He examines different Internet business opportunities based on how easy they are to start and run and how stable or risky they are. Here is his image below:

As you can see, the easiest way to start an Internet business is with EBay and Amazon, although EBay is becoming more risky, selling through Amazon (FBA means fulfillment by Amazon i.e. you send your stock to Amazon and they post it for you) is becoming more stable.

He explains the graph in more depth on his blog, which is well worth checking out here.

Notice that affiliate marketing is in the hard to start, moderate to risky end of the graph. I will be writing about this aspect of the graph in my next post.

Technorati Tags: Internet Business Opportunity, Internet Marketing, Internet Marketing Advice

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