A computer and Internet connection is the most obvious thing you'll need. It doesn't matter if your computer is a PC or Mac. Either will work just fine for your marketing efforts. Just keep in mind that most Internet marketing software is created for the PC, so if you have a Mac, you may need to make sure you can also run Windows programs on it by using a Windows emulator, or installing Windows on your Mac.

Your computer doesn't have to be a high-end model unless you intend to do a lot of extreme graphics work or video editing. Most Internet marketing tasks can be accomplished well even on systems that are several years old.

You should probably have a high-speed Internet connection, but if you can't get one, you can still work just fine. You might be slower, but you can still accomplish most tasks on a dialup connection.

A few things might be out of your reach on dialup. For example, you might not be able to do much video marketing if it takes you 12 hours to upload a single 10-minute video. But for the most part, you can do whatever you need to on dialup until your success takes off and you're able to upgrade.

You'll need a comfortable place to work, with an ergonomic chair. Most people find they're most productive if they have a clean room with few distractions. Your work surface should be as clear of clutter as possible. Have folders ready for projects and a place to store and file your receipts and other things you print out.

You don't have to have a separate office, but you'll need to make sure you can have a little quiet space if you need it to work. If you live in a small apartment with a family, you may find it difficult to get any privacy, so a good set of noise-reducing headphones and a good white noise CD or MP3 can really help. White noise will help block a lot of bothersome noises, and will help you focus on your work. Music can also work, but it may be too distracting for some people.

Some marketers find it very helpful to have a small refrigerator and microwave in their office area. This way, you can easily grab food and drinks without breaking your focus too much. If you only have to walk three feet to grab a soda, your focus won't be broken as much as it would be if you had to travel downstairs to the kitchen. But at the same time, it's equally important to take some small breaks to relieve stress and maintain your sanity.

A fax machine and printer is a very good purchase. Many companies will require you to print and fax documents like a W-9 tax form. PayPal occasionally restricts accounts for various reasons, and then they often require you to fax certain documents to them in order to reactivate the account.

Having a fax machine can save you from having to travel to Office Depot or Kinkos while you're panicking because your account is restricted during a big launch! Have a good planning and scheduling program, and keep your tasks well organized and documented so that you can achieve your goals easily.

More on Internet Marketing – Setting Up Your Internet Marketing Home Office

You don't have to stock any inventory. You can keep overhead costs low (no publisher and agent cuts like there are with print books). You have an endless supply that can be purchased at any time of the day or year.

But they also offer many benefits that aren't so obvious. While a tangible book in Barnes and Noble might sell for $14.95, an eBook on the same subject could sell at anywhere from $49-99 or more online as a digital download.

You don't have to be a professional writer to launch your own eBook empire. The writing is very different for an online audience – more like you do every day via email than what you learned in a college-level English class.

Tiffany Dow, author of Building an eBook Empire, used to ghostwrite for dozens of top Internet marketers on a freelance site. Then she discovered how profitable her eBooks were and decided to learn the entire process of launching those eBooks herself.

Needless to say, she quit ghostwriting and now goes head to head with the very people who used to pay her $1,000 to write a 50-page eBook and make that money back in a period of two days. You can find quality freelancers to create your products for you at a fraction of the price, and turn around and launch it with your name on it – and it's not only legal – it's standard protocol in this industry!

So what does it means to launch an empire of eBooks? You start with one, and then branch out – branding yourself as the go-to person for that demographic's needs. For example, you don't write just one definitive guide to wedding planning…

You write one about picking the perfect wedding gown, another on wedding flowers, one on honeymoons, and so on. Each smaller, niche idea that you drill down into gives you more selling opportunities.

There's a step-by-step process for developing an eBook – which begins with finding your niche and ends with the launch of your powerhouse affiliate program. You want to have an army of virtual salespeople out there pulling in profits for you while you continue adding another building block to your empire with a follow-up product idea.

It's also profitable to use PLR ebooks to grow your own ebook business. PLR ebooks with master resale rights are easy enough to rewrite. Many come with complete sales websites and promotional material too. Although for maximum profit, it's always best to have your own custom graphics (website header, ebook cover, etc) made so your ebook is unique.

You can use many free and low-cost tools to launch your first and subsequent eBooks online. It isn't a business opportunity that requires a large investment of money, but you do need to commit some time to ensure it's properly launched in a way that bolsters your reputation in the community.

More on Building an eBook Business Empire

There are three ways you can deal in tangibles if you want to focus solely on those or supplement them with your digital download links. The first is to become a seller of tangible yourself.

This will most likely mean selling on eBay, but sometimes a marketer goes off on their own and launches a website to sell the goods from. You'll be plagued with making sure you have enough inventory on hand, and if an order comes through, it will be your job to box it up, take it to the post office, and ship it out.

If the customer doesn't receive the goods, you should be able to verify proof of delivery. In some instances, you'll have to accept returns on the products, and won't always be able to resell it depending on what the product is.

Another option is to become a seller of tangibles by using a dropshipper. With a dropship account, you'll usually have to pay a fee to get set up with your own website – for instance, wedding accessories.

The customer will find your site online and place an order, paying you for the items they purchase. You'll then turn around and pay the dropship company a portion of those earnings and they'll ship the inventory to your customer direct.

You don't have to deal with any of the inventory, but you do have to deal with customer relations. The customer won't realize they've ordered from a dropshipping arrangement, so even though you're just a middleman, you'll be acting as the frontman.

Your third option for selling tangibles is to become an affiliate of tangibles. Millions of people shop online, and around the holidays, an affiliate can rank in a lot of Christmas cash.

But holidays aren't the only time when tangible promotions will work. You can use an Amazon associates account to sell anything on Amazon.com. Likewise, you can get an ID from LinkShare and promote tangible items from flower boutiques, Wal-Mart, and even travel companies (like luggage)!

More on Tangible Product Promotions

Some newbie 'net marketers take it to an extreme level of isolation, never branding their name, watching forum posts from the sidelines, too scared to put themselves out there for judgment in the marketplace.

But networking will help you make big gains as an online marketer. First and foremost, it helps you brand your name in the marketplace. You'll always want to participate in the Internet marketing niche, even if it's not the niche you're making money with.

The reason for this is because you can find potential Joint Venture partners who are in the same (or a complementary) niche as you. These relationships and bonds you build with other marketers could serve you well in the future.

Within your moneymaking niche, you want to network as well. Always put your sights on someone who's a step above you on the ladder of success. This will help you build your own business because you're catapulting your momentum forward rather than taking a step backward as an unknown.

If at all possible, try to attend Internet marketing seminars and seminars within your niche. You'll meet people and gain valuable insight that isn't sold on the 'net – secrets shared as good friends rather than sold to a general public.

Seminars can help you bounce ideas off of others and generate some new ideas based on what you learn. It can also help you locate products and services that will help your business.

You might meet graphic designers, freelance writers, or even a so-called "guru" who could give your product or site a mention to his own mega list. If you attend a seminar, have some business cards ready to hand out to people that include your name, email address, and website.

Get cards from others, too and then follow up on those contacts to remind people of who you are – thanking them if they provided you with any information that helps you on your journey to becoming a successful Internet marketer.

After you attend enough seminars, you may even be asked to be a speaker at one, which is when you'll be the main focus of the networking party and everyone will be competing for your time and attention.

More on Networking with Other Online Marketers

If you're making sales pages of any kind, there are a few types of graphics you should almost always have. You don't necessarily need a header and footer, but you can't get away with having no graphics at all. Some of them are absolutely essential!

The most important thing you need if you're selling an eBook, software package, membership site, or other digital products is a good eCover. This will have to be customized with your product name.

A good eCover graphic lends credibility to your product. If your eCover is poorly done, a lot of people will think the product itself is sub-par. If your eCover is especially attractive, it will make it seem like your product has a higher value. A good eCover is essential, especially if you're selling to other marketers!

A guarantee graphic is also important. Guarantee graphics help draw attention to your money back guarantee. A guarantee is vital if you want to achieve maximum conversions, because so many people have been burned on Internet products before. If you don't have a clear-cut guarantee policy on your sales page, or if visitors don't see it, you could be throwing sales out the window.

An attractive order button that draws attention is almost as important as your eCover. The order button is what people need to click in order to purchase your product. If they somehow miss the button, or if it's difficult to see, people might get frustrated and leave.

Also, some people specifically look for the order button on your site first. The price of a product is usually near the order button, so some people will instinctively scroll down to the order button before they even read the sales letter.

If your order button is especially tempting, your price is good, and your eCover is exceptional, they may hit the order button and buy without even reading the sales letter. This is especially true if they've already heard a lot about your product before they make it to your sales page.

Bullets or accent graphics can also be important. They help draw attention to essential benefits and features. They should be used sparingly. Using bullets to accent everything on a page takes away from their usefulness, because they should only be used to draw attention to your most important benefits.

If you're running an affiliate program, you must have a selection of banners for affiliates to use to advertise your site. Although some affiliates will only promote you through text links or emails, a lot of affiliates will still need banners for websites and blogs.

Remember, pre-made graphics can really save you time and money, but it can also pay to have part of your graphics custom made. Great custom graphics can really help skyrocket sales. Save the stock photos for use on Squidoo lenses and in your blog to stay in line with the niche theme.

More on What Graphics Do You Need in Your Internet Marketing Toolbox?

Most JVs are really affiliate relationships. You have a product – your JV partner has a forum, website, or email list. Your JV partner sends an email to his list about your product, or puts an ad on their website, blog, forum, etc.

Then you pay that JV partner a commission for the sales he generates. Although this type of relationship probably shouldn't be called a "JV," a lot of people do refer to it as such – probably because the product owner approached the JV partner to ask for a promotion instead of the product owner just deciding on his own to become an affiliate.

The most common form of true JV is when two parties with email lists or websites exchange ads. Usually, both parties have lists of comparable sizes in the same general niche, and each person agrees to send a mailing out to their list on the other person's behalf. You send their message to your list, and they send your ad out to theirs.

Joint ventures are great, because they allow you to go far beyond what you could accomplish by simply promoting to your own list, or on your own site. If you have a list of 10,000 people, and 200 people buy the product you're advertising, you have a 2% conversion rate.

If you could find ten other people with lists of 10,000 people to send out your ad, and you also experience a 2% conversion, you could make ten times the money you'd have made by sending out a message only to your list of subscribers.

Of course, in many niches, lists will often have duplicates. In the Internet marketing niche, many webmasters are on dozens of different lists. When a major launch goes out, you might get five or ten messages about the exact same product on the same day.

But no two mailing lists will be exact duplicates. Even in the same niche, people can attract different audiences. JVs are a great way of reaching more people than you'd otherwise be able to reach on your own.

If you're interested in doing a JV with someone, you should be well prepared before you write to him or her with your proposal. You must bring something to the table that is of value to the other person. A JV can be a cross promotion or a bartering situation, where each of you offers up a service or skill to jointly create and launch a co-branded product.

Don't expect to write to a well-known marketer with a huge list and get an instant JV when you don't have a list and aren't offering anything special. It could happen, just don't expect it.
You can entice a JV partner with a very generous commission.

Be prepared to pay 70% or more in order to get JV partners unless you're already very well known in the niche or have a very large list of your own (or an amazing, mouth-water product that will blow everything else away).

You'll also probably have to JV with people who have lists that are similar to yours in size. Most people won't be willing to JV with you if their list is over 10,000 people and yours is only 200.

Once you build up a large list of your own, you can start getting bigger JVs. Just don't forget about what it was like when you were new and your list was smaller. You shouldn't automatically pass over someone because his or her list is currently small.

If they're offering you a good commission on a very high-quality product, it might be something you should consider. Plus, you'll be developing a relationship that might be very valuable in the future!

More on Joint Venture Opportunities

But getting testimonials can be difficult. In general, people are lazy. They don't usually provide feedback unless it's negative, or unless you ask for it.

You shouldn't offer money as an incentive for people to offer testimonials, because then they become "paid testimonials." People tend to distrust testimonials that people are paid for, because some people are perfectly willing to lie about a product if they're paid to do it.

Instead, you should offer some small token of your appreciation, just as a "thank you" to those who take the time to write a testimonial for you. It might be a free report, a link from your site to theirs within the testimonial box, or a coupon for 10% off their next order with you.

As long as you're not offering cash, most people won't feel you're being dishonest to get your testimonials. It's not that they don't really want to offer one if they like the product, it's just that they don't think about it. Those that do think about it will often put it off "until later" and then forget about it.

So make sure you ask your customers for their testimonials. You could ask them on your "thank you" page. You could ask them again on the last page of your product, or at the end of each audio or video file.

You could ask them in a follow-up email. "Hi, I just wanted to find out how you're enjoying XYZ Product. Is it working out for you? If you haven't done so already, I'd really appreciate it if you could send me your thoughts on the product – I may even use it as a testimonial with a link back to your website! It'll only take five minutes of your time, and I'll send you a free bonus report as my thanks for taking the time to do this for me."

Be sure to ask people if you can include their real name in the testimonial, or if you should use their initials. Some people don't want to have their real name anywhere on the Internet, and try to be very secretive about using it.

For some types of products, they may not even want their name associated with it. For example, many men might not want their name used on the sales letter for a "male enhancement" product!
Also, ask for a picture, if appropriate.

Some people have a tendency to trust testimonials more if they include a picture, because it seems more like a real person wrote the testimonial. Although some dishonest marketers might just steal photos to use for testimonials, the average person probably wouldn't think about that.

And the people who would are probably natural skeptics and are less likely to buy your product anyway. Audio and video testimonials are a great enhancement to your sales copy if you can convince your customers to call in an audio testimonial or email you the video file, but this is harder to obtain since many won't be versed in more advanced technology.

More on Triggering a Flood of Testimonials

So how does a newcomer to Internet marketing safeguard his or her pockets from the greedy, self-indulgent scams of an unscrupulous marketer? First, you want to do a bit of background research.

If you land on a page where someone has recommended a course or tool that you feel will help accelerate your Internet marketing earnings, don't buy on impulse. You might regret it later and have to ask for a refund, or suck up the cost if no guarantee is offered.

Google can be your friend here. Type that marketer's name into the search engines and see if there are any scam details. But beware! One of the most common affiliate pre-pitches is to promote a product by using the scam approach initially and then building the product up with the detailed review.

You may see about 5 page's worth of links if you type in [marketer's name] and scam, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're real scam accounts. Always read the pages with care.

You also need to know that practically every marketer has a disgruntled customer. Some people get angry if their download link doesn't work and they don't get a response within 30 minutes. Others intentionally try to sabotage the competition by posting poor reviews online.

You should be able to find as much positive information (in the form of praise) as you do bad reviews. If not, it might be best to steer clear of that marketer since no one credible can endorse him (or her).

Never rely on their own claims (even screenshots of earnings can be manipulated). And if you find them in a forum, don't think that just because they have the highest post count, it means they're the best marketer.

Get personal recommendations from other marketers. If you want to find out who has the best affiliate marketing guide, ask in a forum and find out. Or, take the recommendation of a marketer you already trust, because if they provide you with a poor product recommendation, it tarnishes their own reputation, too.

More on How Do You Know Who to Trust?

It happens easily with this industry because there are so many options you have – an endless array of opportunity. You can be a product owner and an affiliate at the same time.

You can use article marketing, social marketing, or pay per click campaigns. You're new, you may not know much about any of the above, and suddenly you're thrust into an environment where everyone's opinions differ and you don't know where to start!

The first thing to do is calm down and take some of the pressure off of yourself. All of this information you need to digest isn't going anywhere. It's going to be here tonight, next week, and a year from now.

Don't invest in a guide about Google AdWords, another about Squidoo, and one about Private Label Rights all at the same time. There's an old saying, "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: One bite at a time.

Internet marketing is your elephant and you have to choose whether you want to eat the ear, the foot, or the tail section first. It doesn't matter if you start out learning about social marketing before you know the ropes of article marketing.

The point is that you're educating yourself and putting that knowledge to work for you. As long as you read the social marketing guide and apply that insight to a method of making money, you're on the road to success!

Some things won't make sense to learn before others. If you know you have no money to start with, then don't buy (or even download for free) a guide about pay per click marketing. Start with something you can do.

You don't want a guide to everything all at once. You want to invest in small, bite-sized chunks of information that you can digest and utilize before moving on. Want to start with a free blog? Get a blog guide. Launch a blog.

Then move on to whatever interests you next, such as product creation or selling on eBay – whatever floats your boat. The key is to not get stymied by having too much information and too many choices at once.

More on Avoiding Information Overload

YouTube is one of the most visited websites in the world, and other video sharing sites are growing in popularity, too – including niche specific sites, like those for Internet marketing. As a result of the gain in popularity of video sharing sites, more marketers are turning to video as a way to promote their products and services.

Almost any type of product or service can be promoted through video, but it's important to do it properly. People generally don't visit video sites to view commercials. There might be exceptions for people who want to watch classic commercials, funny commercials, or extremely popular commercials.

But for the most part, people don't want to watch commercials. They come to be entertained or to learn something. If you want your videos to be viewed a lot, you need to either be extremely funny, exciting, controversial or educational.

If your free videos offer a ton of quality content, they have a good chance of going viral and making you a lot of money. Video is so powerful – not only because of the sheer number of people who view video sharing sites every day, but because it can be much more persuasive than the written word.

Some people respond better to writing, but others respond better to video. Video can really help you to get your point across to people who don't read well, or people who really hate to read.
Many marketers feel they don't look good on camera, or don't have the budget to produce quality videos.

That's one big reason behind the popularity of Camtasia. Camtasia is a great program that allows you to make videos by taking video screenshots of your computer. You can select a portion of your screen to be shown, and then you can make your video by simply moving from through your online presentation.

You can also use a microphone to record your voice explaining the process as you go through it.
Camtasia is very easy to use, making it extremely popular for people who aren't very good with technical things.

Most people are able to make their first video with Camtasia within an hour of opening the software! This makes it perfect for almost any marketer. If you're promoting an eBook about Squidoo, then your video could be a short tutorial about one aspect of how to use the site – like adding images to a Squidoo lens or setting up your own Group own Squidoo.

You can do this with nearly any kind of product. If your product is a dog training DVD, you can post a couple of samples. Show how to teach a dog to sit, and another showing how to teach a dog to heel.

If your product is about how to make money with eBooks, you could have a couple of sample videos on how to get affiliates, or how to get more traffic to your minisite, making sure you show proof of your results within the video production.

Even if you don't want to post your videos to the video sharing sites, you can post them on your own site or blog. You can even put video on your sales page for higher conversions. Video can be an important selling tool, but it's also effective as the primary media you use to create your product, too.

More on An Introduction to Video Marketing