The Value of Self-Teaching in Home-Based Marketing
When I became a music teacher, I thought I had learned enough in
college to be an expert in my profession. Was I in for a rude
awakening. After a short stint I realized what's more valuable
in teaching is what they fail to teach you in college - what you
learn on your own on the job.
I had a brimful of musical information and skill to impart, but
most of it meant zilch until I learned to get along in the
classroom. Many tools, tips, and tricks in dealing with school
age children came to me after trial and error.
In home-based marketing, especially on the Internet, the same
idea holds true. Take as many Internet courses as you like.
Visit as many sites as you wish to experience how others have
succeeded. In the end, it's what actually happens to you as a
result of your own effort that's going to be of most value.
Don't be afraid or ashamed to be perceived as a "newbie". We all
start out as such, even if to some degree more or less. Reach
out now to someone who can take you around the block - show
what's worked for them. You'll be glad you did.
There's a lot to be gained from soaking in Internet courses.
And, yes, devour those ezine articles, scour the newest ebooks
available, and all the rest. Make the most of it. Learn
something every day.
But above all, look for individuals who will take time to
support you. Let them be your mentors. Be their most eager
students.
Remember, too, that not everything to be gained on the Internet
in a home-based business is free or easy. Too many of us are
desperate for quick sales when we set up our businesses. We're
sick and tired of the 9 to 5 grind and want instant
profitability to rescue us from our woes.
Even the most attractive programs, ones that promise generous
cash earnings, will take effort. Further, even the best plans
will have to survive trial and error. But what you learn from
that will benefit you endlessly.
To illustrate this point, let me show you what happened in
trying to promote my business on a free web site. Before we get
into this, though, let me assure where I'm coming from. It's not
to persuade you of the idea of paid domain names and site
hosting as the end-all, beat-all solution to success. There's
much more to it than that.
I've always been restricted by budgeting concerns. Could I have
taken food off the table to pay for business expenses that may
or may not have earned enough to pay for themselves? For reasons
too detailed for this article the answer in the beginning was
"no". I'm sure most newcomers to this marketplace have the same
concerns.
On the other hand, when I finally did register my domain name, I
soon began seeing more traffic on my site. My domain host is not
the most expensive one out there, but what paying for a web site
gives me is a shorter web address and less down time than with
my free hosting service.
Where am I going with this, you ask? Here's where. It was the
months of submitting to classifieds, free for all links pages,
and search engines with very little gain that finally convinced
me. Even though I used funds from the family budget as a leisure
expense it has been worth it. I have made sales, and traffic is
improving.
For you it may be a question of advertising money, or more
basically, time to invest online. Whatever the issue, it is the
experimentation that pays off. Please learn from activities that
fall short of profit. That's the extra value of self-teaching.
Don't be afraid to try and fail. Be more afraid of not trying
for lack of all the answers. After a sufficient length of time
in business - and I mean months to years, not overnight - your
efforts should pay off. You will then be able to try and
succeed.