The Internet marketing industry is an isolating career at times. You work from home, usually on solo projects, and except for the occasional forum and chat room participation, you don't have the opportunity to interact with others.

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.

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Almost every marketer needs graphics. Many graphics are available pre-made. You don't necessarily need to have every single graphic customized for your use only. Some graphics should always be custom made, but others can easily be stock material.

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.

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Joint ventures (also known as JVs) are partnerships between two or more people, usually with the purpose of cross-promoting products. There are various types of JVs, and what you offer your JV partners will depend on what you have to bring to the table, and what you're looking for in return.

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!

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