It's like discovering a hidden waterfall in the middle of a golden forest - the only trouble is you don't know how to swim and you're scared of taking your clothes off in case you get laughed at.

Internet Marketing to those of us who are lucky enough to make a comfortable living from it is just as it sounds - marketing using the Internet. Yet when one first hears the term it is a mystical, wonderful phrase that conjures up visions of working from home, five or six figure monthly incomes, and a lifestyle that most people can only dream of.

Actually it IS all of the above - a wonderful way of working, and I have been lucky enough, and have worked hard enough to live a lifestyle that seemed a million miles away as I punched the same hole in 50,000 pieces of metal in a factory in the North of England.

But it's not been a free ride. It has cost me. In time, in relationships and also financially.

I was recently asked in an interview what was the one thing I wish I'd known at the start of my Internet Marketing career. I thought long and hard about this. Learning how to profit from Google Adwords was harder than learning to speak Portuguese (which I can't), and took a long time. Even now I'm nowhere near an expert. I honestly don't think many people are, no matter what they claim. But that wasn't the one thing I wished I'd known.

Do I wish I'd known about the fabulous profits available from creating and having sole control over your own information products? Well yes - like many other newbies I spent a considerable amount of time and money on products with resale rights. Now there's nothing wrong with reselling other people's work if it's done correctly, but I lost a lot of time and money in this area too, before I learned the 'tricks' I now take for granted. But that's not the thing I wished I'd known either, although losing out with resale rights almost put me off the whole Internet thing altogether!

No, the thing I wish someone had told me when I first put finger to mouse was this. You need help. You can do it alone, but it takes longer, costs a lot more and you will lose things on the way - motivation, relationships and certainly money, if you don't have help.

Now I don't suggest you need a teacher or mentor, although if you get the opportunity of either, grab it with both hands. But you DO need one or two good books, one or two good courses, and/or a supply of good information.

If I'd have known this I would have subscribed to two newsletters, bought just three ebooks and one course. It would have cost me a couple of hundred pounds. Sounds like a lot? I added up the amount of money I've spent on useless information over the past 5-10 years. It adds up to over £10,000 - that's around $20,000. If I'd only bought the information that I now know is valuable I could have saved thousands of Pounds, but more importantly, I could have saved myself two or three years or hard work.

So if you're just starting out in Internet Marketing, or you're reading this because you just can't seem to make that extra bit of money that would take you into the 'work from home' club, then my advice is this.

Join forums. Subscribe to newsletters. Talk to people - email people and ASK ASK ASK what they think the good information is. Take some time to do this, and make sure that the information you buy is good, solid and practical. Ask the 'gurus' what they bought when they first started.

Buy it. Read it. Then realise that there comes a time to STOP reading and start DOING. Put the information into practise and become an Internet Marketer.

Good luck!

About the Author

Best-selling author Sara Brown is one of the UK's top Internet Marketers. She is a leading warrior against 'wage-slave-ism' and thoroughly believes the age of the employee is over. www.sara-brown.com