I have extensive backgrounds in writing and advertising, so I figured I'd be a natural at online marketing. And I was right: I naturally fell for every cyber-con artist, spam addict, and fly-by-night operator that turned up in my search engines. But they're not entirely to blame: I wanted to believe that getting rich online was as simple as sending someone a few dollars and waking up the next morning to find money flowing from my computer like Niagara Falls.

But I finally struck gold: I came across someone who explained the basics of online marketing, DIDN'T promise overnight wealth, and most amazing of all, didn't ask for any money. Did he have an ulterior motive? Yes -- he did have some online marketing tools to sell. But because he spelled out exactly how the tools could help me earn money online, I was more than happy to buy them -- and sell them!

Which brings us to the very first -- and most important -- thing you need to learn about profiting online, and I'm not charging anything for it. You must grasp this concept immediately, because if you can't, don't (or don't want to) understand it, you should forget about online marketing right now. Ready?

Online Marketing CAN work, but it IS work.

Online marketing is research and tenacity and link-checking and patience and back-linking and self-motivation and cutting and pasting and rewriting and self-discipline and bookkeeping and a little seed money. But it's not overwhelming if you know exactly what to do and when, and are willing to learn.

And now for Lesson Two: it's also vitally important, because it quite literally spells the difference between success and failure:

Start small.

Most people fail at online marketing because they're in such a hurry to cash in (which is, of course, exactly what those scammers and con artists I mentioned count on). I myself am not rich -- yet. But that's because I haven't learned everything you need to know about profiting online -- yet. What I have learned, however, is beginning to earn me a steady income, and it's the result of investing time and effort, nothing more. Lose the "get rich quick, something for nothing" mentality, and your chances of succeeding will skyrocket.

Slow and steady (plus the right tools) is what wins the race when it comes to profiting online. And that's the truth.

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