As any internet marketer, I have had my share of pitfalls along the way. Also, like many, I have a story to tell. Perhaps many of you can relate to my past professional life in the cruel corporate world. I don’t want to lament on my vocational past, but I will say this. I didn’t want to work for the ‘man’ anymore. Furthermore, I despised having been worked to the bone – only to be discarded from my post by layoffs and an ‘amoral’ corporate climate. Three layoffs in three years kind of takes it toll on you. So that brings me to today. I love my independence, and I love to challenge myself. Therefore, I entered the world of Internet Marketing in November of 2009.

Needless to say, it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. How does one start any type of business with very little capital for start up costs? The first thing that came to my attention was affiliate marketing and making your own website to build my business. What is affiliate marketing? Well, if you have ever used the internet and surfed the web, then it is probably 100% possible that you have been surrounded by affiliate marketers. In fact, you could have been surrounded by them on a daily basis -and didn’t even know it. When you visit just about any public website, whether is it TMZ.com, Amazon.com, CNN.com, Eharmony.com – well -you get the picture. All of these sites are a platform for advertisers to display advertisements. We are all aware of advertiser ‘pop ups’, so it is almost impossible to not be familiar with these advertisements if you have used the internet. So, did I want to be a part of the ‘pop up’ advertiser’s fraternity.

Absolutely not. I hated pop up ads. Now with anti pop-up software, the pop ups are not as frequent as in the past. However, affiliate advertising, or affiliate marketing, is alive and well. To put in plainly, huge companies like Netflix, Nutrisystem, Match.com, and any other big company will use affiliate marketers to place ads for them on the internet. If you or I, as an affiliate, place an ad in which someone clicks on that ad -and buys the product- we will receive a commission for the sale of that product. Its that simple. Or is it?

Step One – Take Your Time

The problem I came across very quickly in affiliate marketing is how to get started. How do you discern all of the information that is out there? The first instinct everyone has is – ‘how can I make money really fast?’. How do I make a web page? I didn’t know the first thing about internet business websites. There are so many internet marketing gurus out there – selling the dream. That’s right, you will be heavily and thoroughly enticed to buy products on the internet that make HUGE promises. How a ‘stay at home mom make $75,000 in just 4 days with her first affiliate product!!’. Yes, these advertisements are everywhere. Don’t fall into those traps. Marketers such as these are targeting people who want to make quick money, without really having to ‘work hard’ or put in the time and diligence it takes to learn something. You will have to work hard, which most people don’t have a problem with. The key is to work hard and work smartlearn the facts here now.

Step Two – Apply Your Previous Learning Curves

Lets take a step back and apply this to your own experiences. If you were like me, you probably have had many different jobs in your lifetime. Some of them good, some of them bad, and some you loved but you moved on one way or another. In all of those jobs, there was a learning curve in order to perfect your skills and performance. In fact, we go to work every day, do the same thing(usually) on a daily basis. Then once you think you know the job like the back of your hand, you learn something new from a co-worker.

This makes your job a lot easier, because you are now able to apply this new skill to your job tasks. Now you are even better at your job – and now you have more confidence. It usually takes about 6 months to really learn your job and know it like you know your name. The same thing works for any type of home based business and how to make a web page.. You have to learn how to do it. You have to sharpen your skills. You have to put the time in to learning it. You may not make any money for quite a while. However, once you learn how to do it, you will never have to work for any large corporation again. That has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it. Start by learning the basics. Wrap your head around the concept. Read some books on the subject. It okay to spend a little money on your education, but don’t invest too much too soon.