I get asked this question all the time so I thought I would write a quick article to clear the air once and for all. So what’s the question people ask me? It’s this; what’s the very first thing I should do as an Internet marketer with no budget to get my site off the ground and start earning money as quickly as possible?

I don’t care what your website is about, I don’t care if you’re selling a product or selling a service or creating a membership site of some sort, or marketing a newsletter, or whatever, my advice is always the same for those just starting out on a shoestring budget, or no budget at all.

This is what I recommend you do. Head over to Google and type in the phrase “keyword tool”. The first listing that comes up will be the free Google keyword tool. Use that free tool to research different keywords that relate to whatever it is you’re selling.

The idea is to find 10 keywords that directly relate to your website. You’re going to want to use “exact match” as opposed to “broad match” for reasons I won’t get into in this article. Basically this is just a setting that you will see if you look around on the main page of the keyword tool, just click exact match from drop down box.

Now I said you need 10 keywords, 20 would be better but let’s say 10 because it’s easier. You’re looking for keywords they get searched for between 500 and 800 times per month, that’s all.

I know, that flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says you should pick keywords that get searched for as much as possible, like thousands of times a month, but the fact remains that when you’re first starting out it’s very hard to get ranked at the search engines for those mega keywords.

On the other hand, a keyword that only gets searched for 500 times a month is very low, competitively speaking. That means that without much effort whatsoever, you can usually get your website ranked on the first page of Google’s results for that keyword and with a little effort probably even in the top three.

Once you find 10 keywords, go back to your website and write ten new web pages, one about each of those keywords. Make the title of the page that keyword, add that keyword to your header tags (H1, H2, etc). And use that keyword in the first paragraph of text and the last paragraph of text. Be sure to write at least 500 words about that keyword, more is better.

Next, start linking to each of those web pages, using the keyword in the anchor text. You can do this by posting blog comments on other people’s websites, posting forum comments, doing article marketing where you use those keywords in the author’s resource box, or any other way you can think of.

You probably only need to get a few links pointing at each of those pages in order for the search engines to quickly pick up on your site.

What’s the point? If you can get ranked in the top three for each of those 10 keywords, and they each bring in 500-800 visitors per month, you’re looking at a potential 5,000 to 8,000 free targeted visitors to your web site, relatively easily.

And that’s a great quickstart to your marketing efforts!

In the same way, you cannot ignore the fact that certain guides might look attractive but often times it meets just form but not functionality. Its about time to perk up and learn the truths behind choosing a guide.

Truth 1: Handle Your Personal Struggles Before Choosing

You just can’t go out there and pick any kind of Internet marketing guide without prior knowledge about yourself and your business struggles. Sure, we all want to earn our share in life and live the good ones.

However, being able to know what we are going through at present will help you accelerate your search to the right solution. If you have a personal belief issue about your success, best to deal with it before you move on to other aspects such as the technical part of it.

Truth 2: Wisdom Beats Sexy

Okay, you might think that I’m getting all philosophical here but in reality, it is important. Wisdom is not just reading a book, it is an experience born through an adequate amount of application to know what works.

When you choose a certain guidebook or mentor popularity does not mean it will definitely help you in your journey. You need to be able to know if that information presented within will assist you in your current obstacles in your business and to help you grow.

Truth 3: Seek To Serve And Take Less Opportunities

Interestingly, people often get this wrong at times. But we know you’re different, you know the rules of the game. There are tons of opportunities everywhere online especially when you take advice from a certain Internet marketing guide.

Your goal is to in fact, look for an opening to serve others and help them achieve what they want. Solve more problems there’ll be more money. That is the simple fact in any kind of business relationship. Choose a guide which is serving and will teach you how to serve.

How To Optimize What You Learn

You can make the most out of any Internet marketing guide if you devote at least 20 days to fully immersing yourself to applying all that you learn. That is when you will literally grow financially and skillfully. You will learn all the details and what you can do to achieve certain things. After 20 days, you will have developed a sort of ‘habitual diligence’.

With the economy only just on the mend and jobs still scarce, many people that found themselves out of work and unable to secure another job have turned to Internet marketing.

But what is Internet marketing?

Well, it is quite a broad term. But, for the purpose of this article Internet marketing is basically making money online using the Internet.

I am not referring to companies that use the Internet to advertise or sell products – companies such as Amazon. I am strictly speaking about individuals that work from home using the Internet as their modus operandi – their base of operations.

So what options are available?

There is a vast array of techniques and systems of Internet marketing. When you think of the internet you probably imagine websites. Whilst they are the main body of the web they are not the end all and be all. Online marketing, as it is often referred to, does not always include the use of a personal website – in fact in many cases websites never figure into the equation.

In fact, if you are interested in the potential use of online marketing as a business venture, you should make yourself aware of the following:

Social Networking – especially Twitter, Facebook and MySpace
Web 2.0 – sites like YouTube and Flickr
Social Bookmarking – Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and Delicious
Article Marketing – Check out EzineArticles or GoArticles
Email Marketing Campaigns – find out what an Autoresponder is and how they are used
Affiliate Marketing – Probably the most common form of Internet marketing.

There are many more areas you should make yourself familiar with but these would be the best place to start. If that seems like a lot I would definitely recommend looking at affiliate marketing first. You will find that this actually incorporates many of the other items in the list as part of its strategies anyway, so you may as well check this out first.

Affiliate marketing is very popular and is what most people think of when they hear the term ‘Internet marketing’. Its popularity may be due to the low cost and simplicity of getting started and earning money online using this technique.

If you are interested in learning more about affiliate marketing and would like help in developing and running a successful affiliate sales campaign, you can find a how-to guide that has helped thousands of new starters build successful careers in online marketing.