There is no doubt that the internet has changed how we deliver our message to the consumer. Internet marketing for online business ventures is new in one respect but in another it is the same as it always has been. Most people make the mistake of thinking that marketing an online business is a completely new game requiring a completely new skill set in order to accomplish the ultimate goal which is to sell something to a consumer and thus make more money for the internet business venture.

This is really not true. In fact, if you think the internet offers a completely new way to do business then you really don’t understand what an online marketing business opportunity really is. You still have all the basics of running a business whether it is a mom and pop gas station or a multi-billion dollar corporation. You must have a customer base with a need, or a perceived need, and you must have some way of satisfying that need for the customer that he or she views as a reasonable deal. Doing business on the internet has not changed that at all.

The key to understanding online business marketing is to start with the premise I just mentioned. You must have a customer base which is looking for some solution. It could be a way to make money online, it could be information for a health issue, it could be the latest song or the most up to date fashions. It doesn’t matter what, as long as there is a need of some type. Now that is not to say that you can’t create that perceived need. This happens all the time in advertising whether online or off. You see this a lot in big national campaigns that are geared toward making people realize they had a problem when before they didn’t even know they were lacking something.

But an internet online marketing advertising business will not do this any differently than a business that is based in the brick and mortar world. The fundamentals are exactly the same.

The thing to remember about the internet is it is just a medium that we use to get to our goals. Nothing more. It does not represent a fundamental change in the business structure. It is not a new way of doing commerce. All the web offers is another vehicle for reaching the customer either before the need is perceived or after he is looking for a solution. There have been billions of dollars wasted on ill conceived business plans because this fundamental truth was not realized. People thought that the web was something different than an advertising business. Internet marketing online is nothing more that a very targeted and very effective way to reach individual customers which we have never had before. In that respect it is revolutionary but this does not change our business fundamentals in the least.

Understanding these truths

1. you still need a customer
2. you still need the customer to have a desire
3. you still need to have a solution for the customer
4. you need a way to deliver that solution

allows us to approach an online marketing business with our eyes open. The only thing the web offers is a very effective way to accomplish number four.