Today I was having a little day dream (in a tough and rugged way), just thinking about how I got started in the marketing world. I then tried to figure out what helped me get over the first few hurdles of online marketing. Unfortunately most of these are redundant now…

1. I had a four figure bank role even before I spent a cent of my own money.

When I started out, $ 100 Adwords and Yahoo Search coupons were readily available. Even Facebook had $ 250 worth of promo codes for new accounts.

I’m sure there are still a few Adwords and Yahoo coupons floating around. But you’re ‘avin a laugh if you think Facebook still offer that deal.

2. One hour session per month of marketing consulting, combined with a 10 person mastermind group (run by 202).

I have talked about this probably too many times on my blog, but it was so key for my initial success. I was very lucky with the time I came into the game. The 202 mastermind group gave some structure, goals, and people to compare yourself against.

Although it would be hard for an experienced marketer to give out free marketing consulting, it is very easy to create a mastermind group. Ask around on forums if you don’t know many people. Make sure you get people around your level.

3. A Nicky Cakes blog post.

Big, big call but if I remember correctly my first “successful” campaign came from a Nicky Cakes inspired blog post. I read it and took action the same day. I tried to hunt down the exact post but I couldn’t find it. It’s about a Facebook ads campaign. Sadly the strategy and his blog are redundant now.

It was rare back then to get people posting about actual campaigns. Now a tonne of bloggers do it (best ones are on MrGreen of course). Don’t put them on your “to-do” list, put them on your “done” list.

4. The online reality series Top Affiliate Challenge.

Don’t get me wrong, the show was terribly made, absolutely awful. It’s possibly the worst show I’ve ever seen in terms of structure and aesthetics. There were a few teams of marketers. Each team had a “guru” to help them. The teams had challenges and had to hit certain revenue goals. Marketers would get voted off until one was titled the “winner”. The gurus involved included John Chow and Shoemoney. The only contestants that seem to have gotten anywhere since the show are Ian Fernando (Sorry! I had to post your interview video) and Jonathan Van Clute (had it sorted before the show).

So how did it help me?

Well it made Internet Marketing seem a lot more real. Starting out as a noob, I heard of people doing well. I heard of things I should be doing, but I never actually saw anyone doing those things. Some of the teams on the show ended up doing a few thousand $ a day. That included teams which had a few people who seemed utterly lost. So it gave me hope! There were also a few good tips that were given out on the show.

5. My age.

I started thinking about solo online marketing seriously when I was finishing up university. At the time I had no responsibilities and job commitments. I gave myself a couple of months to make online marketing work for me. I only needed to make $ 100/day profit to beat any salary I would get as a fresh grad. If I failed, worst case scenario was that I had to start looking for a job.

I feel that if I were any older, I would have been a lot more hesitant to give online marketing a shot. I probably would’ve had a job commitment and higher bills to pay. Also, the affiliate world was starting to really buzz in 2007-2008. It seems a lot tougher to get started out these days. The entry level has raised a lot. Side note – the book Outliers is an awesome read, talking about the factors that contribute to high levels of success.

So yeah! Those 5 factors helped Baby Green grow into Mr Green.

What factors helped you starting out? or What factors are you struggling with while starting out?

Mr Green

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