Internet Marketing Newbies have a tough road to hoe as a result of increasingly sophisticated methods of marketing and selling products online. This is especially true with respect to information products such as eBooks, software, audio and video.

Long gone are the days of building a simple website, adding some graphics and a few choice keywords. Today's Newbie Internet Marketer is competing with online marketing behemoths whose marketing machines dominate the marketplace.

Technological advances, mass production, outsourcing and specialization have elevated the online marketing game to new heights; at least for some.

For the New Internet Marketer, faced with a steep learning curve, the prospects of making a decent income online are often illusive.

A Marketing Plan Is Essential

Without a Marketing Plan For Success, most Newbies fail in a few short months, because they are not making any money.

Here are five questions that every Internet marketer needs to ask before starting.

1. What Is My Purpose? (Why Am I Doing This?)
2. What Are My Goals? (These need to be quantitative and qualitative. To make money is not a goal.)
3. What Will It Take To Achieve My Goals? (How much work, time, etc.)
4. What Will It Cost? (every business requires capital)
5. What Price Am I Willing To Pay For Success? (combine 4 & 5)

Answering these questions can prevent a lot of heart-ache and misery in the future.

Starting a business of any kind, online or otherwise, is not something to be entered into without considerable thought.

The Secret To Success ...

Is not found in any one product or system. The true secret to success making money online is in becoming student of the business, creativity and innovation.

If you continue to do what 95% of everyone else is doing, you'll get what they have...JOB (Just Above Broke).

After all, who wouldn't want to earn $381,195.06 in 90 days?

While the prospect of making tens of thousands of dollars per month is appealing to most of us, don't let greed, fear or an aversion to hard work turn your brain into putty. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Keep this in mind. If you do not have a list of qualified buyers with whom you've built a relationship over time, your chances of creating phenomenal results are unlikely.

Remember the pretty girl who assists the magician? She's not just his assistant. She's part of the act... a distraction. While your distracted by the outlandish appeals to your emotions, you pockets are being picked!

Too many Newbies are fodder for the experienced, expert marketer. Human nature is predictable. Armed with the knowledge of how average people make purchases, experienced marketers feast on unwitting Newbies who, out of ignorance, are in pursuit of secrets, products or marketing concepts that are going to make them the next Internet marketing millionaire.

Before doing anything learn the basics of (1) Marketing and (2) Marketing on the Internet. Learn what to look out for.

Keep in mind that you're going to have to spend money, but learn to spend it wisely on products that are going to improve the bottom line of your business. If you can't measure the impact on your bottom line, it's probably not a good idea to buy it.

While there are certainly great products and systems available online, using them without the basic knowledge of the business is like giving a giving a giving a brand new laptop to a caveman.

He's still trying to figure out how the wheel works, and some guru has convinced him he needs an Ferrari.

Finally, in many ways Internet marketing is like a puzzle with many pieces. If there are 1000 pieces in the puzzle and you manage to put 985 of them in the right positions, and fail to figure out where the other 15 pieces fit.

No matter how you look at it, you have an incomplete puzzle.

This is the case with 95% of new Internet marketers.