What to do, Where to go, Who to trust?

I have been spending the last few days surfing the web looking for new products and blogs, seeing what others are doing, what some are saying and what is missing from the internet marketplace. Of course I am referring to topic specific internet marketing and online businesses.

Well, obviously, I cannot see it all, not in my lifetime or many lifetimes, but one can get a good sense as to what is happening.

Some observations have been sites which flash and hype their product, some that are quiet promoters, others selling products we would see in stores or catalogs (maybe competitively/maybe not).

Others that just talk, explain or teach, while others judge and yell and warn. ALL of these are great content online, because they give variety and comparisons; BUT how to weed out and select something that is useful, meaningfull and meets our own personal need.  

There are real gurus out there and then there are wannabe gurus. There are some that make no money and are static with no added content and others which are adding daily or weekly content of interest and making tons of money.

I seem to be rambling here, not always a good thing online, but hey, ride with it.

The background thinking here is from two areas, one is the Congressional hearing on C-Span 7-16-08 with the head legal counsels for Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and others discussing the future of the internet as it relates to the proposed merger of services by Google and Yahoo. A great view.

The other area of thought is from comments I have read regarding the scams and overhyped products which are all over the place and pop-up with all sorts of offers, promises and challenges to buy now or lose the deal of a lifetime.

I will admit, I have fallen into a few of these at 3:00 in the morning with blurry eyes wanting to get something to check out the hype and promise.

Here is where we sometimes forget the wisdom of “CAVEAT EMPTOR”, let the buyer beware.

It is so true. There are lots of scams and junk offered, and we all have to do our own due diligence to not get ripped off, HOWEVER, I have a premise to propose here.

There really are some good and even great programs for learning the online marketing business, and products to offer online. Whether internet informational products or product of interest to fill a need. Maybe a new or used car, or electronics, sports gear or stationary. Whatever.

POINT—we live in a market driven society, for better or worse, and those that have product to sell need to get our attention, and so, alas, they promote, hype, challenge, upsell, dare or use any number of other tactics to get us to make the decision to pull our wallet out and buy their product. And the amazing advances on the internet, and in computers, telecommunications and software have made that a never ending Niagra Falls like torrent of information bombarding us daily. This does not even account for radio-tv-print-street-store-billboard marketing. WOW are we getting hit!!!

I guess what I am really trying to say is, relax, hang loose, be patient, study and compare what you come across.

And while doing that look for one or two products that interest you, search for others that compete, compare features, price and buy one or two, as your budget allows, be cautious but don’t be paralyzed.

Consider products that complement each other and your ultimate goals.

You want an online presence, so you need to get:

1-a great name which is not online for a domain name, 2-a website host, 3-a website (many hosts can offer free and easy builder/designer), 4-a source for and product to sell on your website, 5-a payment service, 6-traffic, to get the market audience you want to sell to. This is just the outline and there are features and tasks to fill in the gaps, all of which will take a little time. So…

It’s OK. You WILL benefit and learn something from them all.

This is a new medium as a marketplace for many, even with many already online. There is tremendous potential for growth and room for many more ’internetrepreneurs’.

Just don’t get trapped in fear and the paralysis of analysis.

So, if there is a little hype and upsell, just sit back and watch it like a three-ring circus. Enjoy some of it, but slow down and check out the features.

And remember, there are many that have done the same thing, bought too much or too little, but they DID IT. They pushed ahead and learned.

BTW, I too am a newbie at this, but enjoying every minute of it.

Take care.

Regards,

Mark Alan

‘markalanblog.com’