The Internet is a very useful and lucrative marketing tool. Thousands of average people have shared stories on how they profited from Internet marketing through their online business or Internet-based jobs. They've created websites, run online advertising campaigns, sent out mass emails, optimized their search engine rankings, promoted themselves via word of mouth on social networking sites such as Facebook, and utilized other internet marketing strategies. All these marketing methods are used to achieve a commong goal...driving traffic to your website and making sales.

Many entrepreneurs set up startups online or simply expand their brick-and-mortar business to the Web. Whichever route you’re taking, it is important to know the essentials before embarking on a new venture.

Some questions you need to answer are:

• Who is my niche market?

• What are my financial goals?

• What products or services will I make available online?

• How will I sell them?

• How do I build a website?

As with offline industries, online businesses are a hit or miss. Your ratio of successes and failures depends on your answers to these questions. Using this as a guide will give you a clearer vision of your new endeavor and help you ultimately identify the focus of your Internet marketing activities.