Late Night Internet Marketing Minute with Mark Mason

Last week, we talked about some of the most popular internet business models.  This week, I describe two very common exciting internet business approaches:  information marketing and blogging.  There are some very cool benefits to both, and I discuss one particular example that might surprise you -- an ebook about how to buy carpet.  Yes, I said carpet. Transcript to follow soon.

When I first started trying to understand internet marketing business models, I knew absolutely nothing.  I did not understand how advertising worked, how credit card payments were accepted, how money moved around -- nothing.  All I knew was that I wanted to have an internet business.  What I needed to know was what types of internet businesses were out there.  What were my options?  I address that topic in this issue of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute. Welcome to Episode 3 of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute. In Episode 1 we talked about what internet marketing was. In Episode 2 we talked about some of the things that can be attractive about starting an online business. In Episode 3 I’d like to talk about what these businesses look like. What is an internet business? What do they feel like? How does the money get made? I remember when I was starting my online adventure in 2007 I didn’t really understand any of this about how money moved around the internet. Let me say that I feel like there are several different kinds of internet businesses that are approachable for the beginning entrepreneur. We’ll talk about each one of those here very briefly and then you can do some more research and work on your own to figure out the kinds of things that might interest you. In general, one of the things that you can do to start an internet business is you can sell stuff online. You can get physical products, you can put up a website, and you can sell those physical products online. People can send you their credit card information and you can take that money to pay your costs and keep the profits. That’s sort of like a traditional brick and mortar business, and there are lots of variations of that. You can get products drop-shipped directly from the manufacturer, a lot of times from China, and you can never touch the product. Or you can have products that for some reason live in your house. I have a friend who has a very successful internet business in the beads industry making beaded jewelry and so forth, she’s able to ship products that she puts together by hand directly from her home. She’s able to do that very successfully and it’s become very famous in the beading community. One of the magical things about the internet is that you can pull these communities together from across the world and build a business out of those communities. You can recommend or drive traffic to products and get a commission for those recommendations. This is known as affiliate marketing. It’s one of the things that I talk a lot about at LateNightInternetMarketing.com, it’s the way that I think is the best way to start an internet business if you’re going to start one on your own. Start an affiliate marketing business where, for whatever reason, because you have an excellent blog, because you’ve created helpful content, you’ve generated traffic, you have viewers and people, you recommend products to those people or review products to mention products, and when people click on your very special link that’s coded to you and then subsequently buy that product you get a commission. That’s another kind of internet business, this sort of commission sales or affiliate marketing business. You can be very strategic about that and choose to pick products and topics and subjects that are profitable, or you can really just focus on something that you care about. Maybe there’s something that you’re really passionate about where a lot of products are sold in the marketplace on the internet, there are ways you can build a business around that by putting helpful content out online and then monetizing those referrals in order to get business. Another way that you can create an internet business that’s very straightforward is by being a publisher. You can have an online business where you create wonderful content and people read it. You can think of Time Magazine.

So you think you want to start an online business?   This begs the obvious question:  why start an online business in the first place? There are lots of reasons that you might consider to start an online business.  The most commonly cited reason is that you can get started with very little capital.  In fact, you can start a legitimate web-based business for well lest than $100.  The problem is that too many people associate that low barrier to entry with "easy money".  I discuss this and my other favorite reason for starting an online business in this the second episode of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute. You’re listening to Mark Mason, and this is the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute Episode 2. Today I want to tackle the simple topic of why you would even want to start an online business. What’s the big deal? Why do that? There are a couple of reasons that people always point to and there’s one myth that I want to dispel here. The reason that people always point to starting an online business is that you can get started with almost no capital. It’s really fantastic. Usually to start an online business you need some sort of web presence; that can be had for just a few dollars a month. Then you need to build a website and create content and do other kinds of marketing; most of that can be done simply with sweat equity. So there’s not a lot of investment required. Now, contrast that to starting up a McDonalds or some other kind of franchise business. Certainly you’d be talking about tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, you might need millions of dollars in capital to start a significant sort of brick and mortar business. That’s not so on the internet. All you need is a good idea and the will to survive with some knowledge about how to do it, and you can start an internet business right now today. In fact, if you’re within the sound of my voice, that means you have access to the internet and you could actually be up and running with some kind of internet business in a matter of hours, depending on your skill level and what it is that you’re trying to do. So that’s the reason that everybody talks about. The other reason that people like online business is that it’s the kind of thing that you can do part time. That’s a lot of what I talk about at LateNightInternetMarketing.com. In fact, that’s the reason for the branding “Late Night Internet Marketing,” because I myself am a part time internet entrepreneur. I have a day job and I work my internet business part time and I love it, and that’s why I do it. Those are reasons, but let me dispel a myth about internet business. A lot of people believe or associate the fact that low start up costs must mean that there’s easy money, because if I don’t have to invest $50,000 and I can make money it must mean that with an internet business I can make some easy quick cash online. Let me tell you that my experience has been that internet marketing, while it can be incredibly lucrative and it is very attractive for lots of reasons, it’s not really an easy money thing. Sure, there are people who hit it big accidentally, there are all kinds of stories. In fact, you’ll find stories like that in the brick and mortar world. But if you’re looking for quick easy money without a lot of work, I don’t recommend internet marketing for that. It’s just not been my experience that that’s really the way this rolls. So why start an internet business? Because you can do it today. It’s learnable. You can get in there with a limited amount of capital and get started. But be prepared to do some work, because what you get out of something certainly has to do with what you put in. You have to create value in an internet business if you want to extract value from customers. Thanks for listening.

In this very first episode of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute, we tackle the most fundamental question that I could imagine.  What is Internet Marketing?  What does it really mean to be "doing internet marketing".  I share my simple definition:  matching offers with buyers online. This is Mark Mason from LateNightInternetMarketing.com and you’re listening to The Late Night Internet Marketing Minute, Episode 1. Thanks for joining me. Today we tackle probably the most fundamental topic in internet marketing; What is internet marketing? If you go online and you just type in “internet marketing” you’ll find all kinds of things. You find get rich quick schemes, you find people who are offering services to brick and mortar businesses so that they can get their message promoted online, you find legitimate business opportunities for solo entrepreneurs, and everything else in between, including how to sell things on eBay and how to make money selling your services online. There are just all kinds of things that comprise internet marketing. If you break internet marketing down there are two fundamental components that are obvious from the name. It’s stuff that happens on the internet, generally speaking, and it has something to do with marketing. Generally, when we talk about marketing in this context we’re talking about taking visitors on the internet, some kind of traffic, some kind of people, people like me and you on the internet, and taking them through a process that converts them from visitors or prospects or people who are generally looking for information and converting those people into buyers. One of the things that my buddy Jimmy Brown always says is that internet marketing is about matching offers on the internet to buyers. That’s really the fundamental idea between internet marketing. When someone asks you, “You’re doing internet marketing, but what are you doing?” Fundamentally your answer ought to be that you’re matching offers with buyers. I’ll add one more qualifier. I know Jimmy believes this and I definitely preach this at LateNightInternetMarketing.com. You’re doing that in a helpful way. So, you’re matching offers with buyers in a way that helps people. I think that’s really the essence of a successful internet marketing endeavor, whether it’s a little small business, whether you’re helping a large brick and mortar business, internet marketing is about matching offers with buyers. Until next week, I’m Mark Mason from LateNightInternetMarketing.com. If you love The Internet Marketing Minute, I encourage you to come on over and listen to the long format podcast, The Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast. Take care.

I am pleased to announce that, starting January 1, 2014, I will be adding a second weekly podcast to my line-up.  It's called the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute.  It will be a very short (less than 5 minute) weekly show that hits a single fundamental topic in internet marketing.   I'll still be publishing my long-format Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast as usual, and the topics will not (generally) overlap. Hear what I have in mind in this "episode zero" introduction. Welcome to Episode 0 of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute. The whole point of Episode 0 is to give you an idea of what the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute is going to be all about. Fundamentally, what we’re going to try to do each and every week with the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute is to tackle a simple idea, question, or concept in internet marketing. There’s lots of reasons to do this. One reason, and I think the most important reason, is if you’re trying to build an internet business part time or you’re trying to take your game to the next level, one of the most important things that you can do is always be learning and always have your internet business top of mind. That allows you to germinate ideas and just make progress all the time. That’s where these ideas come from that you have in the shower or while you’re brushing your teeth, it’s because you’re working on problems that are top of mind. So I wanted to provide a show that was a quick hitter that everybody would have a chance to listen to that complemented my bigger show, The Late Night Internet Marketing Podcast, which is a 30 minute weekly show. The Late Night Internet Marketing Minute will in general cover evergreen topics. That means that the information that is presented in the show will always be true and I’ll try not to cover items like news and other kinds of content that expires. That also means that somebody who wants to get started learning about internet marketing can go grab the first 100 episodes of the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute and kind of get a free quick education that will get them up to speed with internet marketing. For the first several weeks, maybe months, we’ll be talking about some of the more fundamental issues of internet marketing. As always, I’ll welcome your feedback and questions over at LateNightIM.com. You’ll be able to find show notes there and everything that you need, in addition to a bunch of additional resources. If you love the Late Night Internet Marketing Minute, I would very much appreciate a five star review in iTunes. That would be awesome and that helps me get the word out about the show. Sit back, enjoy yourself, and let me know what you think. I love your feedback, I want to make the show better. Let me know what you think about the direction The Late Night Internet Marketing Minute is heading. I’ll be looking forward to talking to you each and every week. Thanks :)