The following is a guest post is from one of my favorite online marketers, Jessica Swanson of Shoestring Marketing. I’m sure you will find this article extremely informative and filled with great advice.

There are several steps that you must take to effectively market your business. If your ultimate goal is to be a master marketer and catapult your business to the top, then you must understand, memorize and implement every single one of these important marketing secrets.

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More people than ever are trying their hand at online businesses of one type or another. Most of these people are either trying to supplement their 9-5 incomes or in some cases, make it their main source of income. The primary reason so many people chose online marketing is because of the many benefits it has to offer.

One of the biggest reasons online marketing is so attractive is the fact the you can reach a world wide audience. You are now able to sell your products to anyone with Internet access. Having this broader market can ultimately lead to a larger income. Another reason this business is so attractive is the cost of setting it up is minimal as compared to a conventional brick and mortar business. There is also minimal risk involved with an online business.

Another great advantage of starting an online business is the fact that you don’t need your own products or services. As an online marketer, it is possible to make money by selling OPP’s (other people’s products). This is also better know as affiliate marketing. Using this type of marketing strategy is really very easy to get started with. Once you enter into an agreement with a merchant/vendor to market their product or service, you can start earning some money.
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The following article is from fellow Internet marketer Tony Germana of Marketers’ Profit Hub

The Top Ten
By Tony Germana
www.MarketersProfitHub.com

Have you ever thought, “boy, would I love to get about 10 of these Gurus around my dining room table for coffee to pick their brains for a couple of hours?” I sure have.

I’m gonna save you the trouble of trying to get them all together. Through a lot of research, I’ve found what I consider to be some of the very best blog posts on Internet Marketing for 2009 and 2010. I call them the “Top 10″ and you’ll find them below They are posts that are brimming with top flight information, tips, and ideas. Pure gold for any serious Internet Marketer or wannabee. You’ll recognize some of the authors and some you won’t but they all deserve to be praised for the gems they’ve offered in their content! Don’t stop here, break out your pick ax and dig into this goldmine.
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With the economy in it’s current state, more and more people want to work from home and earn a living online. Many people are tired of being stuck in their 9-5 jobs that offer little security and even less incentive for their hard work. That being said, many people are turning to affiliate marketing. Once you decide to become an affiliate marketer, you’ll begin to realize many of the benefits the industry offers.

The greatest benefits of working from home as an affiliate marketer is being your own boss and having the ability to manage your time. Additionally, there is no long commute to work, you set the hours when you want to work, spend more quality time with your family and set your own earning goals.

I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression and lead you to believe that working from home as an affiliate marketer is a walk in the park. Yes, there are many benefits but running your own affiliate business from home requires lots of discipline and organizational skills. As most of you are aware, there can be many distractions at home and you need to be certain that you do what’s required every day in order to grow your business and earn a decent income.
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This is the time of year when many people make their resolutions and set goals for the new year. If you do a search on the Internet, you’ll find countless discussions on goal setting and how important they are. It’s a proven fact that successful people, no matter what endeavor they are pursuing, are successful because they all set goals for themselves. One of the biggest problems people have with setting goals is; they aren’t sure of how to properly set a goal and therefore their goals are never fulfilled. In this post, I want to share what I feel are the 10 most important steps to follow when setting a goal.

I hope to see all of you achieve some level of success in the coming year. No matter if your goal is affiliate marketing, other business endeavors or personal, I know you have it within you to achieve whatever it is you desire.

Here are the 10 most important steps you should consider when setting a goal:
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First, I want to thank all of you who visit this blog and have supported me throughout the year. I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with much happiness, good health and prosperity.

As the current year comes to a close and the new year is upon us, I would like to give you something that will hopefully inspire you. No matter what you are seeking in life, I hope this article will motivate you to become successful in everything you do.

Now more than ever, people are searching for the “secret to success”. They are looking for the secret to becoming wealthy, the secret to success in their occupation, the secret to better relationships, etc. Many people believe there are secrets out there that will drive them towards success. If that were true, wouldn’t it mean that success could only be achieved by those few individuals who have access to these great and mysterious secrets?
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Have you ever felt that you are underpaid and under appreciated by your employer? Perhaps you feel like your skill and expertise is being wasted. Do you work hard at your job and apply all your know how and ability for a boss that gives you little in return? Rather than work for someone else, have you ever considered putting your skills to work for yourself? Maybe you have considered starting your own business but the start up investment was out of your reach. If this describes you, maybe becoming an affiliate marketer could be just what you are looking for.
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If you’re one of those people who find the Internet business a little daunting and confusing, you might be asking yourself what kind of online business can I get involved in. Why not give affiliate marketing a try?

For those not familiar with affiliate marketing, it’s best described as a revenue sharing relationship between merchants/vendors and online publishers or affiliates. It’s a low cost way for merchants to sell their products and services and a low cost, low risk way for people to start a business on the Internet.

For the merchants in this business, the overhead is low because they only pay the affiliate when a sale is generated. Once the sale is confirmed, an agreed upon portion of the sale will be paid to the affiliate as a commission. In most cases the affiliate can be paid for referring clicks, leads or sales to the merchant’s web site. The agreed upon commission can be a fixed percentage or a dollar amount.

There are some affiliates that become experts in this field from this simple commission based referral system. There are some that earn more than 5 figures every month. However, based on the thousands of affiliate marketers out there, there are only about 2% that reach that level of success. Those who are fortunate enough to reach that level are generally referred to as “super affiliates”.
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Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn some income and it provides the means for many to set up a home based business without lots of upfront capital or risk. When you become an affiliate, you do work for someone but you are rewarded for your personal efforts. The income you earn is based on your performance and not on the hours or days you work. The harder you work at it, the more money you can make. The merchants and vendors handle all the product development, resources and customer issues and it’s your job to promote the products and services in the ways that you feel will be most productive. Basically, you will be selling other people’s “stuff” and earning a commission for every sale you generate.

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are many opportunities out there for affiliate marketers. However, you need to be very careful because for all the legitimate opportunities, there are those that are scams and ready to con you out of your hard earned cash. It’s unfortunate but the Internet has made it very easy for the con artist to operate and even do quite well.
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More than ever, people have the desire to venture out on their own and become their own boss. It all sounds great on the surface but there are two factors that need to be taken into consideration. The first is capital and second is the risk involved and neither one can be taken lightly. Today’s market requires a substantial investment even for a small business and the risk factor is even scarier. According to statistics, approximately 90% of small businesses will fail within one year.

To overcome those two factors, people are turning to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing can be started with little or no capital and there really isn’t any risk involved. If you possess any sales or marketing ability, can motivate yourself and are willing to work hard, affiliate marketing might be right for you.
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