Do you want to make money online?

If you are new to internet marketing, then there are 5 essential things you must consider.

They are:

• Training
• Hosting
• Autoresponders
• Landing Pages
• Tracking

But, before I go into detail why these are important, I must tell you entrepreneurs spend money to make money.

Investopedia defines an entrepreneur as:

An entrepreneur is an individual who, rather than working as an employee, founds and runs a small business, assuming all the risks and rewards of the venture. 

In 2000, I wrote an ebook titled, "How to Make Money Online for Free." In hindsight, I wished I never wrote that ebook. Trading time for money makes it difficult to scale up your online business.

I have used many tools and resources since starting marketing online in 1996. I have used both free and paid services. Here is a quick overview of the 5 essential things for online success.

1. Training - The money-making, get-rich-quick schemes lack training. The scammers are not interested in training you, just taking your money.

Over the years, I have bought and read books, attended webinars, and took training classes. Of all the training I have used, the following three stand out from the crowd.
Affilorama - 120+ free training videos

Solo Build It! - Awesome Brainstorming and keyword tool

Wealthy Affiliate - spam-free learning environment and active member community

2. Hosting - You will need an online presence. And nothing gives you one more than your own website. Your website is your virtual real estate with control over how and what is shown. I use top-rated SiteGround because they have a strong reputation for site speed and security. Security is important to me because hackers broke into an old website 3 times in 9 weeks.

3. Autoresponder - "The money is in your list." Email marketing is essential for communicating with readers and customers. Successful entrepreneurs collect email addresses, build lists, and communicate with subscribers. Over the years, I have used free and paid email service providers including Aweber, GetResponse, MailChimp, to name a few. My email marketing service provider of choice is ConvertKit. ConvertKit is designed for bloggers and online entrepreneurs with a focus on subscribers and not just building lists.

4. Landing Page - A landing page is a stand-alone page or a page on a website designed to capture a visitor's email address and other relevant information for integration into your email marketing system or autoresponder. A landing page is a page a visitor "lands on" when they click a link. In marketing terms, a landing page is designed to convert visitors into subscribers and eventually customers. I use a page on my website as well as an online landing page generator called Landing Page Monkey.

5. Link Tracking System - You will lose money if you do not track the performance of your advertising efforts. A tracking system is an analytics tool that allows marketers like you to track their advertising effectiveness online. Big-time marketers spend hours testing the advertising to determine which converts the most visitors into subscribers or customers. I use HitConnect ad tracking technology to track and count the traffic my ads are receiving from each advertising source I use.

Bottom line

Success starts with training. That's why training is #1.

Even with years of experience, being scammed a few times, and learning on my own, I joined Wealthy Affiliate in 2016. I found out there was a lot of internet marketing I did not know. And for many beginners, Wealthy Affiliate is a complete game-changer.

Please read the review of my #1 RECOMMENDATION.