Go to almost any internet marketing forum and you’ll see posts by some poor soul asking “How can I make $500 in the next 2 weeks online?” The post usually contains a sob story of how they’ll get kicked out of their apartment, the water and power will be turned off, they already sautee’d their cat for food, etc.
The best advice to give to them is “Get a job” and they get offended if someone actually says that in the thread.
The problem is, in order for them to get to that point in their lives, they more than likely have no equity built up in their offline or online lives.
Offline, you build equity by investing either time, money or work into something that either holds stead or increases in value over time. Think realestate. You buy a house and every month you make a payment on your mortgage, you’re gaining equity + any increase in resale value over time.
I did a live coaching call early in the new year where beginning internet marketers could ask me questions about blogging, SEO, and internet marketing in general. It was cool and I got to know a lot of good people, questions and answers flew furiously, but I realized something very quickly: A lot of aspiring marketers are getting started in the wrong places.
Building a reputation as someone who knows what they’re talking about is crucial if you’re marketing online, especially now that web 2.0 and social networking makes it so easy for your customers to spread the word about you, good or bad.
