Internet Marketing and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

by Palyn Peterson

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Published on this site: January 2004 - See more articles from this month

I was just thinking about something I'd like to share with you, and hopefully it'll give you something to think about as well. I was remembering when I took a motorcycle riding safety class when I was 23 years old. I had no previous riding experience, aside from a bit of mountain biking with a 21-speed, and I figured it wouldn't be too much different going from that to a motorcycle. Yes, it gives me slight grin now, too.

Boy was it was crazy, I couldn't have been more wrong! I imagined myself just climbing on and riding off into the sunset like a pro. But when the time came and I actually sat on the bike for the first time and rode a few hundred feet, it was quite an eye-opener, to say the least. I felt like I was 15 years old again, with a driving permit in my wallet and my mom in the passenger seat. Those familiar emotions were running through me again -- apprehension, confusion, excitement and fear -- only this time I had more life-experience under my belt to better manage them all.

Sure, having driven a manual transmission car for many years did help control the motorcycle, but it was still pretty foreign. But with time, practice, and making plenty of mistakes, I got pretty good at it. Eventually, it became second nature. And even now, after all the experience I've gained, I'm planning on taking an advanced riders safety course.

This reminds me of internet marketing. Maybe you are just starting your first online business, or maybe you are on to your second or third and are now marketing those. Where ever you are at, the amount of business experience you have will vary from most everyone else; but here's a fact no matter how long you've been doing it: if you don't practice internet marketing, it will never get any easier.

Internet marketing is just like learning to ride a motorcycle or drive a car. Before actually getting into the thick of it, people may tell you "Oh, it's so easy!" or "All you have to know is this, that's it." Even when you think about the steps and procedures beforehand, you can convince yourself that you have it all planned out and it'll go off without a hitch. But once you actually do it, you get that much needed reality check.

Internet marketing isn't something you can just "do" and get right the first time around. Yes, it is important to take advice from professionals you trust and who are where you want to be, and to read their eBooks and what not. But it is much more important to actually get out there and do it yourself. Guru's can point they way, but they can't give you experience. To be successful at internet marketing, it takes focus, concentration, and especially practice.

Just like using a clutch, you will mess up your marketing.

You may gun it, and offer your customers a product that would've sold better had you waited. You might pick a product you are not really qualified to market. Whatever it is, be it headlines, sales copy, product placement -- you will get it wrong some of the time. But the more you practice marketing, the more you read about people who are doing it correctly and effectively, the more you write and rewrite, the better you will get.

Eventually, you will develop a "sixth-sense" of what is good or bad -- marketing will become second nature to you.

Most people are looking for the easy way out. That's why "get-rich quick" schemes are selling so well (and ruining it for us legitimate netizens, damn it!). But those people never reach their ultimate goals, because there is no legitimate, fool-proof quick way -- especially one where you can keep your conscience clean!

All those who are determined to succeed, who try and try again and do not stop despite all the obstacles in their path -- those are the ones that will succeed, guaranteed.

You can do anything you want in life; no one can stop you but you, and this does include financial independence.

Ask yourself what you really want out of life. Would you rather catch the new episode of 'Friends,' or spend time strengthening your sales copy? It's easy to get distracted, but stick to your guns and re-do it for the tenth time.

Just remember, for every time you get something wrong, you are that much closer to getting it right.

Palyn Peterson [email protected] Palyn Peterson publishes the acclaimed Advanced Internet Marketing News. A professional newsletter with a refreshing perspective and a strong focus on no-cost techniques. http://FutureInternetMarketing.com FREE Tips, Tricks, Tools, Resources, eBooks, and More!