Heather Turnbow - Marketing Coach  

Internet marketing is the business of both advertising and selling goods and services over the internet. This form of business is ever-increasing in popularity, with millions of people now making purchases on the internet. Internet marketing began in the early 1990s as primarily a means of product description, consisting merely of text descriptions.  As technology progressed, internet marketing rapidly advanced to include pictures and other rich graphics as part of advertisements for products and services. After realizing the remarkable potential of this means of marketing, internet-based companies started opening their virtual doors for business.  As opposed to what are now known as "brick and mortar" operations, these e-businesses offer their products and services to a growing number of consumers, conducting all, or nearly all, of their business in the virtual world of the internet.

There are many forms of marketing on the internet. Among them are article marketing, blog marketing, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing (to include search engine optimization), banner ads, pay-per-click ads, and pop-up ads. It is important to note that each of these forms catches the attention of the target market in different ways, and some may be more effective than others depending on the product or service, the target market, and the strategy and goal of the business marketing itself. Among the business functions that may require use of different means in their strategies are customer service, sales, public relations, information management, and others.

Internet marketing has also become an integral component of many "brick and mortar" operations, but online-only businesses have offered some challenge in the arena of retail sales, an example of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, business-to-business (B2B) marketing, and peer-to-peer (P2P) marketing. However, other online-only businesses have specialized into newer approaches, such as online auctions, sites that allow you to find the best price on what you're shopping for, and also sites that allow you to name your own price.

Further, affiliate marketers have emerged, offering marketing solutions to virtually all types of business. These firms typically receive what is called pay for performance. Even home-based businesses now flourish thanks to internet marketing.

There are many benefits to the concept of internet marketing. It allows consumers to shop and conduct business from the comfort of their own home, any time of day or night, or from virtually anywhere provided they have a connection to the internet. Businesses work much more effectively with partners. Efficiency and speed have increased dramatically as business and shopping have moved to the internet. Even costs have been dramatically reduced. 

Furthermore, at this time, it is rare that you must pay any tax for the items you purchase online.

The most noted disadvantages to internet marketing are the sometimes slow or unreliable internet connections that occur, and online security. Technology is diligently pursuing solutions to both problems, and progress is being made. Also, with the attention of the government on identity theft, it is clear that security and reliability will continue to improve over time.

As with all things new, it is very easy for us to become wrapped up in the innovation, the convenience, and the excitement we experience with something never available to us before. Internet marketing is no exception. Despite the obvious advantages offered by this new medium for commerce and business in general, internet marketing does have its limitations. It is also easy for us to assume that a new product or technology can do more than it really can.

Following are some factors in considering what internet marketing is not.

First to consider is that internet marketing is not a replacement for the traditional means of shopping and/or selling. Assume for a moment that you are looking to buy a diamond ring for someone special. You go online, browse through picture after picture, find some really beautiful and eligible pieces, and that's where you stop. You can't feel that ring, nor can you take a close look at the diamond. You have only a limited scope of what the merchandise will be like when you physically possess it. Are you going to pay potentially thousands of dollars for that ring, or will you go to a local jeweler instead, where you can get a much better idea of what you're buying?  This is a key limitation to internet marketing for many products.

Internet marketing is also not a fail-proof system. Nearly everyone who conducts any form of business or shopping online has experienced the temporary unavailability of a website. The site goes down, and you can't get your business done when you had planned. Furthermore, you may not even get an indication as to when the site will be operational again. It can be a frustrating fact of e-commerce.

Another fact of internet marketing that many fail to consider is that it is not a "get rich quick" scheme. True, many entrepreneurs have entered this lucrative market and become millionaires. However, when you compare the number who have had such wild success, with all the businesses who have failed or never really taken off online, you will find that the “overnight” millionaires are not the standard of what internet marketing is.  Most of the business realities of the brick and mortar world still apply to the virtual world.  Success in internet marketing requires a lot of hard work, just as any other type of business venture requires. 

Internet marketing, finally, is not today what it will be tomorrow. As fast as one model of computer replaces another, so do the options provided in the world of internet marketing. Just fifteen years ago you could go online and find little more than text-based product descriptions.

Now look at what you can find on the internet. Entire stores exist online, and their number is growing. Furthermore, laws on everything from personal security to taxation are changing and promise to make a different landscape of internet marketing than the one we see today.

Heather Turnbow is an Internet Marketing Coach and Expert Team Trainer.  She is also a mommy to 3 in Colorado.  Google Her Name "Heather Turnbow" and visit http://HaveSuccessAndWealth.com .