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When you hear about all the folks who are making thousands of dollars a week in passive income by selling information products on the Internet… and “working” only a few hours a day…

… it’s tempting to want to jump on the bandwagon.

But before you take the leap, it pays to think about whether it is right for you.

On the surface, Internet information marketing sounds like everybody should be doing it. Of course, if that happened, who would fix your car… or trim your hedges… or prepare your tax returns?

But not everybody is going to go into Internet marketing — as tempting and attractive as it sounds.

Should you?

Let me start by saying that, as an Internet information marketer, what you will be selling is useful knowledge on a specialized topic. Therefore, if you already possess this specialized knowledge, you are in an advantageous position.

According to info marketer Gary North, most people do, in fact, have some specialized knowledge they can turn into a business.

“You possess a lot more knowledge than you think,” says Gary. “In many cases, that knowledge is valuable to those who don’t possess it.”

If it’s not immediately obvious to you what specialized knowledge you possess that other people would pay for, stop and take a personal inventory.

On a sheet of paper, list your formal education… degrees… job history… skills… hobbies… and interests. One or more of the items on that list most likely can be the basis of a profitable Internet information marketing business.

Are you articulate? If you can express yourself well, that, too, positions you for success in the Internet information marketing business. You do not have to be a great writer. You just need the ability to express yourself clearly and concisely in a pleasing manner that people enjoy reading.

Another thing that gives you an advantage in this business is a strong desire to make more money than you are now making. That’s important, because there are a lot of people who publish online (blogs, articles, books, fiction) without caring if they make money by doing it.

These dilettantes (and I am using the word in its literal meaning, not as a pejorative) post their stuff on the Web and give it away for free. Their reward is knowing that people are reading or looking at their work.

But putting up a website and posting content to it is easy. Getting people to pay you for it is a bit more of a challenge.

An interest in making money from your intellectual property will give you the impetus and motivation to do the extra work it takes to create and sell information products online. (I teach the entire process in my home-study program: The Internet Cash Generator.)

Have you studied copywriting? You do not need to be a good copywriter to have a successful Internet marketing business. But you do need the ability to know whether a promotion written for you by a freelance copywriter is any good, so you can tell the writer how you want it fixed.

If you are a good copywriter, that’s a bonus, because hiring top copywriters is expensive — and by writing your own sales copy, you can avoid their fees.

As a subscriber to ETR, you have gotten a lot of articles on marketing. Have you been reading those articles? If so, you have yet another advantage. Because the key to success in Internet marketing is the marketing, not the content creation.

Quality content is important. But the people who make serious money online do so because they are good marketers, not because they are good writers.

Many people who love to write are enamored with the “creative” part of it, but aren’t good at the business side of things. If you go into Internet marketing, you will have to pay more attention to the business side. In particular, you need to know what you can realistically expect in terms of results from your promotions.

You do not need to have an aptitude for math. With Internet marketing, figuring out your return on investment (ROI) is very simple and can be done with a pocket calculator. But you do need to be conscious of revenue coming in and money going out. Starting and running an Internet marketing business does not cost a lot of money, but the cost is not zero.

The one thing you absolutely do not need is experience with computers or technical ability of any kind.

The most important skills for an Internet marketer are (1) marketing, (2) copywriting, and (3) communicating (the ability to create content in writing).

I advise Internet marketers to outsource all the technical tasks. That includes setting up their computer, installing their e-commerce software, broadcasting e-mail marketing messages, maintaining their subscriber list, and designing their information products and websites.

You can get people to handle all these tasks at dirt-cheap prices. On websites such as elance.com and rentacoder.com, for example, you can find all the help you need at prices so low they will astonish you.

Even if you can do the technical stuff, I advise you not to.

Why?

Because with the limited number of hours you have available each day, you need to spend your time on tasks that give you a maximum return on time invested (ROTI).

The tasks with the highest ROTI revolve around thinking about your business and planning new products and marketing campaigns.

The technical stuff has the lowest ROTI. To be frank, it’s a waste of your valuable time. And the less efficient you are in running your Internet business, the more difficult it will be for you to achieve the “Internet marketing lifestyle” — making a six-figure passive income while working only a few hours a day.

So ask yourself:

• Do I have useful knowledge of a specialized topic that people will pay for?
• Can I express myself clearly in writing?
• Do I have a desire to earn more money from what I know?
• Can I develop some skill in copywriting?
• Do I understand the fundamentals of Internet marketing?

The more “yes” answers you gave, the better equipped you are to turn your knowledge into dollars.

In my home-study course published by ETR, The Internet Cash Generator, I show you how to do everything you need to do to make money online efficiently and effectively — as well as how to outsource the rest at bargain-basement prices.

[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth 6, click here now: www.bly.com/reports]

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Having Trouble Getting Motivated? - It happens to the best of us. But if procrastination becomes a habit — you’re doomed! Let success mentor Bob Cox share with you his strategies for avoiding this pitfall. And that’s just a small taste of the techniques he’s got on offer…

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“I thought I just went through business school in 300 pages!”

“I’m a biology major who studied his way to medical school. My last business class was in 6th grade (about ways to save your allowance money).

“When I read Michael Masterson’s book, Ready, Fire Aim, I thought I just went through business school in about 300 pages.

“Michael, you’ve helped me start my business — and I never thought I could pull it off.

“Thank you!”

Koohzad K.

Laguna Hills, CA

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The ,000-a-Day Internet Cash Generator

Bob Bly isn’t the biggest Internet marketing operator out there. “I’m just a copywriter,” he says, “with a little business on the side.”

Three years ago, Bob put down 3 to fund that “little business.”

And guess what? That little business is adding an average of ,000 to his bank account… every single day.

That works out to an annual income of several hundred thousand dollars a year.

“My Internet Cash Generator doesn’t make me millions,” he says. “But I don’t work on it very hard either. It takes about an hour a day.”

Bob’s one of the best there is at breaking down what it takes to complete any task. And now he’s applied his skill to show you exactly how he created his business.

Find out more about his income-boosting secret right here.

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Internet marketing is not for everybody, says Bob Bly. In his essay today, he gives you a checklist to see if you have the necessary qualities. I’ll give you a hint: Technical knowledge or experience is not needed.

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So Where Do You Invest Your Money? – Traditional investments are a bit haphazard these days. If you haven’t noticed… But certain “off the Street” investments are booming. Why? Because they make money whether the market goes up or down. Find out more about them here.

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The most important piece of advice I ever give anyone — whether they are a copywriter, consultant, writer, Internet marketer, or retail merchant — is to specialize.

Find an under-served niche that needs what you are selling… and become the leader in that space.

When I give this advice, the other person invariably says, “I want to specialize, but I don’t know which niche to pick.”

The possibilities are endless:

• My friend DK specializes in showing small-business owners how to rank their websites #1 in Google for local searches.

• FG teaches marketing and customer service to owners of self-storage facilities.

• GG sells video training programs teaching optometrists how to better manage their practices.

• Another info marketer, “Mr. Excel,” teaches people how to become proficient with Excel.

• DP shows people how to deal with and care for a relative who is bipolar.

• PF creates marketing programs for hearing aid dealers.

How can you identify and select your niche? I’ve developed a simple process that can help you do it in about 20 minutes.

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

• What do I like?
• What am I interested in?
• What am I good at?
• What do I have an aptitude for?
• What do I know?
• What is my experience?
• What have I accomplished?
• Which of the above areas has the least competition?
• Which of the above areas pays high rates? 

As you think of answers to these questions, write down as many as you possibly can on index cards, one per card.

When you’re done, go through your cards and make a separate stack of those that look like possible niches.

Then go through that stack and pull out the five that are most interesting to you.

Chances are, one or two of them will have something to do with things people routinely pay to learn about or need help with.

Pick one and you’ve found your niche. As Aristotle said, “Where your passions intersect with the needs of the public, therein lies your vocation.”

What if none of your top five choices appeals to you as a niche? Go back to your stack of possible niches and pick five more cards. And repeat this process until you have a niche you are enthusiastic about.

Your niche can be broad or narrow — though, as a rule, the narrower the niche, the better the business opportunity. Broad niches have lots of potential customers but also lots of well-established competitors. Narrow niches have far fewer potential customers, but little or no significant competition.

We live in an age of specialization, and people want to hire specialists. They prefer products and services that reflect knowledge of what they perceive to be their unique situations and problems.

In information marketing, the more specialized your topic, the more you can charge for your book or report. A report on “designing distillation towers,” for example, can command 100 times the price of a book on “leadership.”

And don’t worry about not having enough customers to support your business. You really don’t need that many to make a very nice living.

The desire to have a huge mailing list is a palmary goal, but a huge list is not necessary for success. If you have an e-list of only 10,000 customers who spend an average of 0 a year with you, you’ll gross a million dollars annually.

Most experts advise choosing a niche that you are passionate about. I think it’s more important to choose a niche you won’t lose interest in. After all, you’ll be living with it for a long time — and to me, there’s almost nothing worse than sitting down at your PC every day to do work that bores you.

Keep in mind that people buy from people who are like them — who act the same, believe the same things, live the same lifestyle, or have the same interests. So once you’ve chosen your niche, become an even more active participant in it than you are now. For instance, if your niche is keeping tropical fish, join and become active in your local aquarium hobbyist club.

When you are an active participant in your niche, you can talk more authentically to your market — a crowd of people passionately interested in that topic.

Listen to the problems, concerns, and interests of other active participants in your niche. Then create information products that address those areas. I show you how to do it in my home-study program, The Internet Cash Generator.

[Ed. Note: Bob Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 70 books. To subscribe to his free e-zine, The Direct Response Letter, and claim your free gift worth 6, click here now.]

—————————————–Highly Recommended————————————–

No Silver Spoons Here – Success mentor Bob Cox knows first hand that hard work trumps talent. He helped four men go from rags to riches. Each one of them became a billionaire thanks to their work ethic. They also had an attitude, a mindset, that drove them to succeed. It’s something you can learn. Why not let Bob help you…

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Market pessimists have been playing the “what if” game for at least a year now. As in…

• What if inflation runs over the economy like yesterday’s road kill?

• What if the government raises rates too soon or too sharply?

• What if people are too strapped to start spending again?

• What if more banks fail?

• What if Ford’s and GM’s new models don’t take off or Boeing’s Dreamliner stalls on the runway again?

In the meantime, the market has gone up over 60 percent. At Investor’s Daily Edge, we don’t play the “what if “game. Throughout the market’s big run, our analysts recommended specific stocks and bonds, and we continue to do so.

As IDE’s Steve McDonald says, “The optimists looked beyond the obvious and saw the crash for what it was, the best buying opportunity of their lifetimes. The pessimists ran for cover and missed it, and are still missing it.”

Excuses

You can always find an excuse not to invest. A good one cropped up recently. It had to do with China.

China “stepped on the monetary brakes,” the Financial Times reported, raising the auction yield on its three-month government bonds. How big an increase? From 1.3280 percent to 1.3684 percent. So is a 0.04 point increase any reason to panic? Some pundits think so.

The main worry isn’t about China’s local stock market. It’s the effect a slowdown in China would have on markets around the world that has some people’s panties in a bunch. If China continues to raise rates and growth declines or even stalls, the economic downdraft could be huge. Commodities, energy, and countries that supply raw materials (like Australia and Brazil) would all be impacted.

But it’s still a “what if” scenario. It hasn’t happened yet. It may never happen. Or the timing and degree to which it does happen could be way off.

While it makes sense to keep an eye on the future, the mistake many investors make is to allow “possibilities” to prevent them from investing. The only “what if” you should worry about is this one…

What if you miss the next great investment opportunity because you were too worried about events that haven’t happened and may never happen?

Isn’t the market too high?

The prices we saw in March ain’t comin’ back. It was a great time to buy. What about today? Consider:

• Cost cutting has made corporate America lean and mean. Most companies have been hoarding their cash for when the economy bounces back.

• It’s still a low-interest-rate environment. So don’t fight the Fed. Companies and the market grow hand-in-hand when interest rates are low.

• The amount of stimulus is equal to the amount of the last 10 stimulus packages put together. All that government spending may come back to bite us in the long haul. But in the short run, it’s spurring demand.

• There’s a big inventory rebuild ahead of us. Production was cut to the bone. Now it’s cycling back up to meet rising demand.

Some of the best high-quality companies have been left behind.

In January’s debut issue of Sound Profits, Andrew Gordon said, “Wall Street has just gone though a classic rebound phase. Many stock prices are inflated. And the ones inflated the most are also the least deserving companies that lured investors in with their beaten-down prices. Price-wise, those companies will fall back. Your opportunity is with the big and powerful ‘beached whales.’”

Now is a great time to invest in the right companies.  

The obvious ones are gone. But every month, Sound Profits will be uncovering hidden gems.

In this month’s issue, for example,Steve McDonald reveals an opportunity in a depressed sector where there is great value. Despite the bargain prices, investors are still scared to invest in this corner of the market.

As Warren Buffett said… “Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful.” In this sector, fear rules. Steve says it’s time to get a little greedy.

Find out more about Steve’s pick, and the other recommendations from the Sound Profits team, here.

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Why Julie Gladly Left Her Six-Figure Job

Real estate expert Julie Broad quit her job in the fall of 2008. With the help of Internet expert Brian Edmondson, she started an online business. “As a result of Brian’s step-by-step guidance, I was able to earn 0 my first month, ,000 my second month, and ,000 my third month,” says Julie. “I’m confident I will earn ,000 or more next month.”

Now, Brian will walk YOU though every single step of getting an Internet business started. In a detailed series of video mentoring sessions, he explores the business-building process in simple, easy-to-understand terms. You just have to watch, copy, and repeat.

All you need is a computer, an Internet connection, and a desire to make 0 to ,000 a month or more with your own Internet business. Don’t wait a minute longer to get started.

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“Sometimes it’s uncomfortable.”

“That Multimillionaire Mindset piece in the Jan. 16 Michael Masterson Journal stung me like a bee! The list of characteristics of a multimillionaire mind just seemed so… familiar, like you were describing me! Only it wasn’t me now, it was me 10 years ago. That was before I allowed my mind, and my confidence, to be hijacked by a couple of significant others in my life, and I am certainly not where I want to be now as a result.

“Sometimes it’s uncomfortable reading the hard truths you guys write, but that was before. No more. Today is the day I reclaim my millionaire mindset. Tally ho!

“Thank you, ETR.”

Damon Russell

Kobe, Japan

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