Fear is the biggest hurdle to overcome when you start online marketing and how to conquer it is what has to be addressed before you even begin to make headway in your business.

So what are some of the causes of your trepidation.

1. The fact that you initially do not know where to start building your business.

2. Fear that you will have to talk to people at some point even though you are marketing online.

3. The terrifying thought that you will make no sales and go broke in the process.

4. Fear that you will actually become successful and with that more problems will arise.

Well we can take these in order.

1. You do not know where to start marketing and who to. This is probably the major downfall of most newbie online business owners, if you do not learn how to market online you will most definitely fail. The most important factor is to get mentoring and educational resources from experienced online marketers. Whether you buy books or join a mentoring program the learning process must be undertaken. At the same time, be aware that there is a condition where people just learn and never put into practice what they are being taught, so start using the information that you receive and get out there and market.

2. Talking to people is a necessary evil at some time if you are building a business, but practice makes perfect. It has been known for some successful online entrepreneurs to take a short term job in telemarketing, just to get the experience to talking to people. So again just go out there and do it, you will feel uncomfortable at first but in time it will get easier.

3. Now the fear of losing all your hard earned savings trying to make sales is not an unreasonable one, so it is so important that you have a budget to begin with, decide whether you can afford pay per click advertising or whether you should go with organic marketing which is more costly in time but will not break the bank. Again free marketing has to be learnt otherwise without the knowledge of keywords, search engine optimisation (SEO) and where to advertise, you will be basically wasting your time.

4. This last point, the fear of becoming successful, is not always recognised by marketers but it is a real one. We can be worried that not only will our lifestyles change, but we will lose our friends along the way. A way of coping with this is to have sensible goals and take each one on one step at a time. As your confidence grows you will find that the fear of succeeding and perhaps losing what you now feel comfortable with, begins to diminish.

As you will see from the above there is no magic secret to conquering your fear of online marketing, it is a case of hard work, learning and practising over and over again until you find out what works. Then you will be in a position to help others to overcome their worries and be in a position to call yourself a mentor.

Although I have never really been into self help books, I decided some time ago that my mindset needed definite improvement. So I started reading some inspirational books starting with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. But I have to say that probably the most influential have been the Peaceful Warrior series by Dan Millman.

Even though these are basically novels, excepting that they were originally inspired by a true meeting by Dan with the character Socrates, they have such an easy to understand vein of truth running through them.

It is the story of a young athlete Dan whose chance meeting with an old man, whom he calls Socrates, leads him on a voyage of discovery. Truth is mixed with fiction as he finds new mentors in distant lands always learning more on his spiritual quest.

I found in these books many ideas that are written about by other authors, but in the Peaceful Warrior series I discovered insights that were written in such a way that they stayed in the mind even when the book was put down.

One of the most relevant points Dan Millman makes is that we have a choice in life and that we must take responsibility for our choices. In so many situations we are too ready to blame others for what has happened to us, but in most cases, certainly as an adult, we had a choice to be in that particular place at that particular time.

One of his quotes I love is ‘The past and future are nice places to visit, but we don’t want to live there’. So many of us dwell in the past and will not let it go or all we can think about is what we will do in the future and in doing so forget about the present. If sometimes we can just stop and take in what is going on around us now we would be a lot happier and content. As he has quoted ‘The more we bring our attention to this moment, the more we become in touch with reality, because it’s the only moment of reality. The rest is either memory or imagination’.

I admire Dan Millman in his quest to become a peaceful warrior and feel that if we could achieve that for ourselves it would lead to a much more balanced life. In his book Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, he takes key passages from his original and answers the many questions that have arisen from them. We can all learn from his insight into life and even death which if studied should lead to the inspired mind and inner peace that we all strive for.

What have they all got in common? Well the first two are obvious, those of us that remember the young Rolling Stones, Dylan and a time when we thought we were going to change the world are obviously of the baby boomer generation. The online marketing part is a somewhat newer baby boomer image.

Why is it that we always remember our childhood as a slower paced, sunnier time. Maybe because we didn’t have the financial worries that we have now, few of us really understood about money, we just knew that if we worked hard at school, we would be able to get a good job for life and earn enough to save for our pension and old age.

Baby boomers worked and played hard, we wanted material things, nice houses and cars and this became more important than working at our relationships. How many marriages and family units are still together? Many have been torn apart through working away from home, husbands and wives wanting different things in life and relationships disolving through lack of effort.

Suddenly, everything is changing, we have realised that those hard fought for careers and years of hard work have suddenly become sour. We miss those quality relationships of our youth when the music and ideals bound us together. Before it is too late, we want to spend more time with our children and grandchildren, watch them grow and be part of their lives.

Underneath we miss the community spirit we had in the good old days. The music festivals, the discos and the university or college life seems so long ago and this is what is bringing baby boomers onto the internet and into networking. Whether it is purely for pleasure or delving into the world of business online we have started forming communities again.

Those of us who work online, look for likeminded people who have the same interests to network with. This is something that was so often lacking in our careers offline, particularly for those in high powered corporate positions. But the most important aspect of online business is that it can be run from home and this gives us the chance to spend that quality time with our families that over the years has been missing.

Baby boomers whom have taken the plunge into the world of the internet and online marketing have come a long way since the times when our lives revolved around the Rolling Stones. But we still have the will to change our situations for the better and learn new ways to carve a future for ourselves and those around us.

If they have not realised it yet, the baby boomer’s future is not looking good and if they don’t act now their lives will crumble. If this is you, then look at your life and see where it is going. I looked at mine and realised that as productive as it was, it was not leading to prosperity but to basic ruin. This might sound dramatic, but it is the truth.

So many people of the baby boomer age are too complacent, they still are relying on their pensions to be there for them. We grew up in an age when the two world wars were over, life was easier, produce was available and accessible. We could buy things our parents never could and we did, over and over again until materialism abounded and we forgot what was important. Family life became a thing of the past and splintered and we lived for ourselves.

Now we are paying for it, some of us are in debt, unemployed or frightened of losing our jobs. Those approaching retirement who have realised their future is not looking so rosy are wondering how they are going to manage. So what is the answer? Firstly, boomers must think for themselves, stop being sheep and thinking that someone out there will get them out of trouble. They must act now, not later, to carve out a future for themselves and their loved ones. Personally, I decided to become part of the modern world and started working online. This can be a tremendous culture shock to many, but it is the only way forward if you want to survive financially in the future.

I personally know many baby boomers who have done the same and are extremely successful both in online business and in their lives. They are thankful that they took the big leap and started to learn how the internet world works. They realised that their savings were not going to be enough to last and so invested their time and effort into a new way of thinking and working. The baby boomer generation is the largest section of the world population and if they do not act now for their future there is going to be a very large number of very poor people.

That is the question, are you a leader? If you are going to have a work from home business, who are you going to be a leader of? Mainly yourself, you are going to have to take responsibility for yourself, no one else will. You will have to have the self control to stop yourself digressing from your business and the matter in hand. You will have to not let distractions get the better of you which means that you will need to have self motivation.

It is often harder to lead yourself than others, this is because we all can have lack of self worth and without communication with other people it is difficult to judge what progress we are making. It is important that we are able to acknowledge when something goes right and not let failures get to us.

Leaders should seize the opportunity for challenge and have the imagination to see how to grow their business without having to be told but be open to ideas available around them. This will enable them to be leaders of others as they develop their work from home enterprise into a flourishing business.

So if you have started or looking to begin a work from home business, then ask yourself if you have the right leadership qualities. If you are not sure then examine what you think your weak points are and work on strengthening them. We can all learn self discipline, if we keep our goals in mind and decide from the beginning what we want then there is no reason why we cannot keep on the straight, well reasonably, straight and narrow path to success.

It is a known fact that in times of recession the number of people joining the online business world increases and the latest news about our economy can only reinforce that fact. It has recently been stated that the British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that the proposed cuts programme will affect the whole of the British public not only those who work in the public sector where there could be a shortage of more than half a million jobs in the cities. The debt problem is so great that it could affect everybody for decades to come.

There is to be an emergency budget on 22 June when Chancellor George Osborne will be trying to tackle the £156 billion annual deficit. This will impact everybody both in their social and business lives.

For some time now the Government has been trying to make out that the worst of the recession is over, but unfortunately as many of us have realised, it is not. It is not only Britain that is being affected by the cuts, the problems in Europe, particularly Greece, show how our lives are being disrupted by the world recession.

At least in the United Kingdom there is some warning of the latest plans to cut jobs in the public sector and now is the time for people to look for alternative ways of making an income. Some of us have already done this and have moved onto the internet to make a living. The old scepticism about online business is receding and people are realising that this is the way forward.

There are many people who due to the recent redundancies and changes to the their pension funds have joined online businesses and found that their lives have changed for the better. Now that these latest fears of public sector cuts have been aired publicly it should be realised that there is much scope on the internet for anyone who is willing to put the time and effort into learning about online marketing and now is the time to get in and build your own online business and residual income for you and your family’s future.

Why is it in the mind, well making money can be mind controlling or the other way around, you have to control your mind if you are going to make money. This is because unless you have your mind set on your goal you are not going to reach it.

You have to decide what you really want in life, are you satisfied as long as you can earn your daily bread. Do you just want to have enough money to pay the bills or do you want to have a better lifestyle. It depends on your aspirations, your dreams and what you want out of life.

A lot of people think they have the right mind for achieving great things, but when it comes down to it they are actually frightened of making money. What will they do with it and will it cause problems within their family and friendships. If you are going to upgrade your present situation then you must not be afraid of what comes with it.

So first you have to sort out your mind, a bit of housekeeping is needed here, you must tidy up your thoughts and be prepared to throw out negative ideas and destructive views. You have to channel your mind towards what you are going to achieve.

Then you are going to decide how to make your money, this presumably will be an ethical way for example setting up a business. If you choose to start an online business, then you have to learn how to build it. Focus on this, do not let procrastination get in the way. Concentrate on training yourself and your mind to work on the matter in hand and do not let other things sway you.

Sometimes outside influences such as the television or radio have to be ignored, there are so many distractions out there that can easily take your mind of what you are really aiming for. The same goes for negativity from friends and family. You have to decide what you want out of your life and keep to that track. So make sure you have making money in your mind rather than just on it and you will be on the right path to success.

For all of us in the online business world, there are times when the motivation slows down and our business seems to be at a standstill. We start asking ourselves if we are doing the right thing by carrying on, but there is a question that can be asked at this time “How big is your why?”

Why are you doing this, why are you working all hours online and spending your time with prospects and customers. The answer is for you to know and decide, maybe it is because you are working towards a dream you have always had, whether it is just having your own business, or to make an income to replace your present or recently lost salary. Or perhaps you have decided that you want to work from home so that you can watch your children grow. Whatever it is, the reason why must be so big that it cannot be ignored.

Sometimes when it becomes hard and your business is in a bit of a slump, you might well wonder if it is worth all the work. Well it is said that the only way you can fail is to give up, this is true in the majority of cases and it is at these times you must think of the reasons why you started and what would be lost if you stopped.

So think positively, imagine how your life will be when you get to where you want. How you can spend more time with your family, visit the places you have never been to, live the life you have always aspired to. The reason why you are doing this must overcome any fears you have of failure, being positive is a mindset to work on and with.

The same goes when you are talking to your prospects, if they have doubts about their ability to achieve, then ask them the same question ‘how big is your why’. It is a philosophy of belief and faith and of never giving up whatever gets in your way to keep you going onwards and upwards.

It is a shocking statistic that 97% of online marketers fail and only 3% succeed. This is a worrying fact for anybody who is trying to market their online home business.

The reasons for failure are varied, but can be usually attributed to:

Lack of research into the particular market they are going into.

Lack of funds to start up their business.

The wrong mindset to be able to move from working in a ‘job’ to starting your own home business.

Lack of marketing knowledge and how to build a business.

All of these points are relevant but they can be resolved by the last point which is lack of marketing know how. If you want to become one of the 3% success rate in online home business owners you must realise that having a business is like having a television set, you have to set it up and turn it on to use it. You have to program it to make it work. So it is with the opportunity you have selected. Cut corners and think that the ‘great new opportunity and push button income’ will rocket you into wealth will only end up with you disillusioned, depressed and broke.

If you learn how to draw in the prospects to your site and know how to turn them into paying customers and the ways you can do this without spending more money than you are earning then you will on your way to being one of the 3%.
The successful online marketers have only become so through spending time learning from the beginning how to build their business. It has often been trial and error and many years of setbacks before they came to where they are today.

Find these people and learn from them, they have done the hard work and if you are willing to do the same then you should see the results. Online home business is the way forward, be part of the 3% of marketers that will be the success story of the future.

If you are an Online Marketer, one of the best ways to promote yourself is by Article writing. This is not only a source of information about yourself and your interests but enables you to give back to the public what you have learnt. It is also an inexpensive way to be seen online and with the problems these days with pay per click advertising it can be with practice a fun and lucrative form of marketing.

Firstly choose your places to put your Articles, these can range from specific Article sites to Forums, Social Networks and niche sites. Study the rules and regulation of each site carefully as there is nothing worse than being slapped for doing something wrong.

Decide what you are going to write about, but remember it is important to try to make the article interesting for the reader. They are not to be considered just fodder for the search engines. Remember these days, you are promoting yourself not just your online marketing business and if you write an article that is just full of keywords and no real content then no-one will want to read them.

So try to pick subjects that people are looking for information about and that you have knowledge of. If you choose subjects that interest you then your writing will show up your enthusiasm and this will keep the reader on the page. Write articles in a way that the majority of people will understand what you are saying, if you try to be too clever and use words that joe public does not know the meaning of you will alienate your reader and lose them.

If you are trying to get onto google with your work, then resource your keywords and title and write an interesting article around them. By doing your homework you can get your piece to number one and keep it there. This is something than can be learnt by researching article writing, reading other peoples work and learning from other successful writers.

Once you have published your article it can quite often be republished in other places by other people. This is fine as long as they attribute the work to yourself, but do check as plagiarism is unfortunately a common occurrence and you have every right to complain if you find this has happened to you.

All in all article writing is one of the best ways to get yourself known online and although it takes time and effort to do so, it can help you build your online marketing business in a way that paid advertising never can.