Is Internet Marketing and Working at Home the Answer to Layoffs? 7 Questions Answered

More Layoffs Ahead

Just this week it was announced another major release is about to occur in one of the largest companies in the country. With friends and family members who work there, I must admit to some concern, even if it would affect me personally. Since May of last year I worked part-time to keep the wolf at bay, to build an online business on internet marketing. For this reason, some of my family and friends have turned to me for advice, I will answer some of their questions here.

Question 1: How easy is it to get started?

Getting started is easy - make it work, then work. At this point, I do not make adequate attention full-time place of work, although I am beginning to see some small success. When I started, I know this is not a get-rich-quick income, but I do not really need to be rich, just to make enough to pay my bills and to repay student loans. I have learned in this process, although some not to work quickly, trying to make the Internet a long time, months or even years, the majority of people in the market struggle, in the "make."

Question 2: Should I do Internet marketing?

It depends. Are you willing to work at something else, assuming you can find the work, until your marketing efforts pay off? Are you willing to spend hours, days, or even months working through the learning curve? There is a huge learning curve due to having to learn marketing techniques, Internet marketing specifically, keyword identification, copywriting, some technical skills, who you can trust to give you correct information, and much more. Many people are successful Internet marketers, but all they sell is information on how to be successful Internet marketers. They are hard to identify, but most of the time, the content they sell is rehashed material that 1) either no longer works, or 2) has already saturated the market and it is difficult to make money using their techniques--note I said difficult, not impossible. If you have no job and no prospects, you should get started on Internet marketing as soon as possible, and put at least 12 hours a day into it. This will be the best way to succeed, but it won't be quick. You need to have another source of income while you get this going.

Question 3: How can I shorten the learning curve?

Find a reputable organization and sign up with them. There are a few, although not easy to find. It took months for me to sift through the chaff to find the grain, so to speak. Although this does not remove the learning curve, he will give you from someone who actually walks the talk and you can find specific, concrete information. Once you have this entity, all read, which tripled. Then read on the fourth to begin the debate on the steps they propose to take. By reading everything three times, first, build a solid foundation for understanding what they require you to do. If you do not agree to read everything three times, you work the steps in the first reading, but be sure to go back and read it again. There is so much content to absorb, it can not happen overnight, or even in the first week. I'm still learning, and much of it is now slowly making sense.

Question 4: Do I have to know how to build a Web site?

No, you are not required to know how to build Web sites, though some knowledge or experience with XHTML and CSS is helpful. Some organizations provide free Web site software that helps you build a site, even without technical knowledge. The issue is that if something gets broken, without the XHTML and CSS skills, you may have to ask someone else for help. FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and other Web design software can also be used, but I highly recommend that you do not use Microsoft Word. Word puts in a ton of excess garbage, and makes it difficult for even a Web design guru to find and fix errors. Some organizations offer free Web site templates to their members that give the option of developing a site by filling in the blanks. Be careful of these if you don't understand Web design code. There may be some code built into it that does things you don't know about, and could get you in trouble--for instance, Java or JavaScript code that captures and forwards information about your readers/customers to a third party you don't know exists. Worst case, you can find someone to build your site for you. Costs for this service range from $50 to $5000 or more, depending on what you need coded. For a simple one page site, the range should be from $50 to $500, depending on the skill and experience of the designer, as well as exactly what you need coded.

Question 5: Where can I find good information on how to do Internet marketing?

There are several resources available to you. Find and bookmark, or favorite, blogs about Internet marketing. Search for and bookmark forums about Internet marketing--lurk for a while, reading content provided as well as answers to questions newbies ask. Do they seem honest and straight forward or convoluted and confusing? Register with one or more forums after you choose those that seem most helpful to you. Spend hours reading everything in the forums, taking notes on those procedures that are interesting to you. Type up your notes to help solidify in your mind the information you have gleaned from the forums. Refer back to your notes often to be sure you are not missing a vital bit of information. Find an Internet training site, such as Wealthy Affiliate University, and sign up for membership and training. Click on the link at the bottom of the page to learn more.

Question 6: What is the most important thing for me to do?

Make a plan for each day and stick to it. Decide what you want out of Internet marketing, then plan how to get there. It has been said, plan your work and work your plan. This is especially true in Internet marketing. If you don't plan, you will find yourself surfing the Internet looking for things to do, or doing busy work such as dusting your home office for the fourth time in two days, or reading emails. These are some of the ways to trick yourself into thinking you are actually working, when you are in fact spinning your wheels and getting no where. Keep moving forward, working your plan daily, and you will succeed in time.

Question 7: What equipment do I need?

You will need to have a computer and Internet access, or at least access to both through the local library or elsewhere. As far as equipment goes, that is all you have to have. You will need a text editor, but WordPad and Notepad, both of which came free with your personal computer, will work quite well. Spreadsheet software is helpful for keeping records, but not required. You can keep records in a spiral notebook, if you need to. A reference to XHTML coding is a good idea, but you can also look this information up on the Internet. Simply search for free XHTML HTML tutorials.

You must be persistent. How many cliches fit here? The early bird gets the worm;
Rome was not built in a day, and remain strong, the press, in the preventive measure and, if a start you do not succeed, try, try again, so you can not slack, never give up, there are many more. These are cliches because they are excessive use of the phrase. They are excessive because they are commonplace. Search, print out, read the daily quotes Calvin Coolidge on Persistent. He turned to history may not be the best president, but he got that right.

To succeed as an Internet marketer, you will have to dive into the literature of the field and read deeply. You will have to be committed to the point that you will persevere when things do not work out the way you expected them to. You will have to learn who to turn to for advice, then pay attention. You will have to do it. Just do it! There is no substitution for rolling up your sleeves and getting to work--yes, I know, another cliche. Again, cliches are cliches because they are so obviously true and they work.

For more information on building an Internet marketing career, visit Work at Home in Your Pajamas: Making Money at Home Fast: Create Your Online Work Opportunity or Wealthy Affiliate.

A Hands-On Approach to Solving Problems Helps a Distance Learner Spring into Engineering Management

When Gundolf Schmidt was born in 1969, his parents and older brother lived with his maternal grandmother in Germany. Until Mr. Schmidt was six that family closeness continued: His father was busy building a home in his nearby hometown, and that's a slow process . . . but a rewarding one.

Emulating this parental example, Mr. Schmidt also built his own home after he was grown. Naturally, he got a fair amount of advice and help from his family.

That family tradition of hands-on interest in how things work has been the basis for a very successful technical career that recently led to a management position. He now serves as the engineering manager at a big Tier1 automotive supplier for a team of 31 located in Germany, the Czech Republic, and India. Throughout his explorations of learning and building, he has been blessed by having a beautiful wife who is very patient with his projects and hunger for knowledge.

This career success wasn't completely planned. To some extent, it just happened.

After high school, Mr. Schmidt developed an interest in electronics and computers. To learn more, he enrolled in a school to prepare for work as an Informationselektroniker (which is similar to an electronic technician). Upon finishing the program, he had planned to attend the technological university. Opportunity intervened when his boss offered Mr. Schmidt an attractive job in the electronic design department of the company.

After two years, it was time for service in the German army's signal corps where Mr. Schmidt learned a lot about communications technology. When he left the army, his employer was experiencing financial difficulties.

As a result, Mr. Schmidt took a job as a service technician for medical systems at another company. After a while, he was promoted to representative service manager. Although he was doing well, the job was wearing due to heavy travel across Germany.

Mr. Schmidt was coming, he decided to try his hand in the software environment, and joined a small software system that was active in the manufacture of automotive applications. The company's founder, Dr. Sammel, Mr. Smith has the chance to work as a software engineer with no formal qualifications.

For over the five years he was with the firm, Mr. Smith took to build a variety of courses to its effectiveness and to some knowledge of software development, programming and quality assurance in software projects. He became a SPICE (ISO15504, Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) assessor and an ISO 9000 Internal Auditor (European Organization for Quality - Quality Management Technician).

He also passed several training sessions in the CMM/CMMI (Capability Maturity Model / Integration) model. This education involved eight semesters of distance study while he was working that provided the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science degree.

In 2003, Mr. Schmidt joined Visteon, the former motor car parts subsidiary of Ford Company. He was the leader in software validation for a large automotive multimedia project for the development of Digital Audio Broadcast tuner for several automobile manufacturers. In this role, he spent most of the implementation of validation, analysis of errors, fault management and writing of software tools for automated testing and customer meetings.

November 2004, quit an important training Misutashumitto course, the International Software Testing Qualification Board exam (basic level), qualify as. During the past few years, he has a different bus systems in the language used spare time to learn some new software to improve their knowledge of more C, C, Java, and Visual Basic books and reading (including the CAN bus, for example) have been used automotive environment. To him this is an important factor in your daily work and learning new techniques of continuous improvement.

Mr. Schmidt's next foray into distance learning came in 2005 when he began a Master of Science program at Rushmore University. His goal for this education was to prepare for becoming a manager in the company. He found teaching people to be very interesting and was interested in how he could help his software group to improve its processes.

It provides distance education, he developed his career at Rushmore is, at this point is to enable an investigation parallel to his daily work was selected to earn his master's degree at the time of allowance of his chance could. Another advantage, because his English language skills, other than that you can learn more about his management practices had been to 12 enrolled in a science course credit. And Rushmore, he was able to take specific courses of their choice freely.

While at Rushmore, Mr. Schmidt was able to explore complex issues related to his work. For example, his American company developed software for European companies. As a result, both the CMMI and SPICE assessment models were of interest.

For one course, Mr. Schmidt mapped how CMMI translates into a SPICE perspective to help his company better understand its maturity and to save money. The result was a tool that helped improve his department's processes.

In another course, Mr. Schmidt described powerful ways of performing software testing to be sure the new systems operate as intended. He further explored how quality staffs and software development teams can cooperate in more effective ways.

Rushmore professors also remember receiving frequent photographs from Mr. Schmidt showing progress reports while building his lovely new backyard pond as he worked on these tough courses. Obviously, the desire to build and learn is never ending for Mr. Schmidt.

Pushed by his professors, the technical work he accomplished exceeded Mr. Schmidt's expectations. Through intensive work with Rushmore's editing staff, Mr. Schmidt also felt that his English skills improved.

How did he feel about this distance learning experience?

"I feel proud and satisfied to have completed my M.Sc. while concurrently doing my job and building my house. I've learnt many valuable reading and writing techniques and also usable skills in the different environments based on my self-crafted course structure.

"The Rushmore program has provided me with what I expected: practical online learning, flexibility in terms of time, choice of courses and advisors, convenient payment options, visible progress, academic support and one-to-one mentoring.

"Maybe in the future I will start my PhD . . ."

Before graduating in 2006, Mr. Schmidt joined TRW in 2005 where he gained the position he now enjoys leading a global team of 31 as an engineering manager.

As he continues to learn and build, it's clear that Mr. Schmidt's best days are ahead of him.