How I Got Started In Online Marketing

It was a bright and sunny day… the birds were out, there were people milling about and going about their day like any other day.

End of financial year was here and it was time to celebrate. But then out of the blue, I got a call that would change my life…

It was an accident…

A stumbling upon type thing. I had been made redundant and needed a new job. Unlike other stories you read on the web about people hating their day job and forks to “the man”. I loved my job. So to being made redundant as a legal secretary was a hit to my personal pride.

Since working 12 hour days were taking its toll against my family, I was looking for something closer to home with flexibility. So I did what anybody does when they are looking for a new job and jumped online. This is where I googled upon Virtual Assistants.

From there…

As they say the rest is history!

By deciding to become a virtual assistant it opened opportunities to go and meet new people, play with Twitter and network. It was also a big lesson in:-

• Personal development
• Stepping out of my comfort zone
• Psychology
• Business

What I did to hone my internet marketing skills

1. Make Friends With Expert Internet Marketers

In all the personal development and motivational readings I’ve read, the common statement is that “you become like those you surround yourself with”. So I set out to make new friends, but not with just anybody – I wrote down the values, beliefs and habits that I admire or aspire to be like.

Making new friends is difficult, especially if you mentally think your are ‘targeting’ specific people so you can get ahead in the direction you want to go.

One of those awful mental scripts and subconscious beliefs I had implanted by an ex-boyfriend, was “that to get ahead and be a millionaire or billionaire you had to step on others”.

My biggest fear in making friends with the expert internet marketers was for them to think that I was using them to get ahead…which was not my intent. I really really did want to be their friend and bask in their awesomeness.

So I made a point of promoting them, offering solutions that would help them get to where they want to go and expected nothing in return for doing this. I wanted to do this, because I wanted to be their friend. A true friend, is there for you when you need them, there is no contract, obligation or rules and regulations – you are just there.  (Flattery will get you every where)

In learning how to be a friend to a consciously select group of people, I learnt that experts are just people like you and me. They have needs, wants and desires that need to be filled and anybody can do the job, if that is what they want to do.

I also mastered some great “getting-to-know-people” tips, flipping the conversation tactics, plus how certain words and habits had the power to influence peoples decisions. (If you’d like me to write a blog post on this topic please email me)

2. Completed BlogMastermind

I had signed up to “The Challenge” (free) plus a heap of other paid online marketing courses and never completed them. I don’t have a reason, justification or excuse why I never completed them. I just didn’t.

What motivated me to complete Blog Mastermind was most probably because I met Yaro, the creator of this course, in person. We were not friends back then, just two randoms who happened to be at the same networking event together.

I had seen Yaro’s stuff online previously and thought it was spam, it was only in that brief meeting that I realised how genuine he was (and still is).

Blog Mastermind isn’t available at the moment, however you can still get the same tips and advice for free from his site Entrepreneurs-Journey.com. If you want to create a niche site, then I recommend The Challenge (previously called The 30 Day Challenge), there is a wonderful forum that I’ve used heaps of times to meet some like-minded people in my area. I also have other close friends who got their start by doing their training course.

3. Get Private Coaching with Sarah Prout

This coaching session came off the back of listening to a webinar series called “The Millionaire Affair” (total mind blowing 10 day webinar with several millionaires like Derek Sivers, Wendy Moore, Cyndney Sullivan, Sarah Prout + more)

Through this coaching session I met some wonderful people, interacted with more internet marketing experts and sort to push myself to master this industry.

I read the 4 hour work week after becoming a virtual assistant

Plus other books, blogs and courses on outsourcing and online marketing. The thing that propelled me the most at being awesome at what I do…is the people I meet along this journey.

If it was not for Anthony and Nick being my accountability and “suck-it-up-princess” group, I’d probably gone back to a normal job. If it was not for a friendship with Gideon (awesome YouTube Marketer btw) that was a spin-off my friendship with Yaro, having the random creatives catch up would not occur, which helps recharge my creative juices. If it was not for The Hive, which was run by Nick, Mick and Walter – I wouldn’t have met Yaro, Richard, Jordan, + a heap of other people.

For the last “if it was not…” for Twitter – I would not have seen Yaro’s tweet about going to Entrepreneurs Night Out. Which I decided to go to and promote the hell out of…I would not have met James Tuckerman of Anthill Magazine. Who hired me to do what I do best (up until that point – I was doing what I needed to, just make money) which lead me to going to Melbourne…which lead me to meeting more awesome internet marketing people like Tim, Dave, Pete and Jen.

I think you get my point…people lead to people…lead to more people – who all offer a solution of some kind – to what ever problem you are having.

How you can start…

Write down the next three things you need to do to get where you want to go… and do them!

End of statement…no long list of tactics, suggestions or idea feeding.

If you don’t have the answer, ask for help – email, tweet, facebook. Follow that voice inside your head.

Just stop reading this blog post and do something

To awesomeness and beyond!

Want to leave a comment? would love to hear from you… tweet @kateyshaw or email me