Let me ask you a somewhat personal question today. The
answer to that question determines how you treat your on-line
business, and dramatically impacts your chances of on-line
success. That question is, "Are you really an Internet Marketing
Professional?"

Being a professional means that you view what you do as much
more than just another job or a business. It's something you
do because it's your "calling." It's something you do because
you believe that it's what you were meant to do and because
you believe that it helps to make the world a better place. 

You don't have to view it as a permanent calling, but you do
need to believe in the importance of what you do.  If you don't
see what you're doing as significant, then you should seek a
different calling.

I borrowed that definition of a profession... of  a calling, 
from how I felt about my job when I was in the military.  That 
was one of those jobs that you did because you felt that it was
something that needed to be done.  The pay generally wasn't
that attractive, so you had to look for a higher purpose in 
sticking with such an often-thankless, always-demanding job 
where you were  expect to be prepared to sacrifice your VERY 
life if  needed.
 
Running an on-line business should be much more financially
rewarding and certainly demand less personal sacrifice, but it
should still  be viewed as a profession that you can throw 
yourself completely into. 

Like many professions, your on-line job involves offering solutions
to peoples' problems.  Doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, mechanics,
and schoolteachers, all provide solutions to problems. They all
fill needs. I submit to you, that if you are an Internet Marketing
Professional, your job is no less important, and that it comes
with no less obligation than any of the jobs mentioned above.

It may seem like a "stretch" to envision your job of  marketing
products and services on-line  the same as diagnosing
and prescribing medications for an illness. Yet, that is exactly
what you should be doing.  You should be analyzing your
customers' and clients' problems. You should understand what
is causing the problems.  You should be familiar with possible
solutions, and you should prescribe the best suitable solution
that you are aware of.

Adapting that view of your on-line business is one of the big
keys to your success. That's because if you do view helping
your clients as a sacred trust, you WILL really strive not to
violate that trust.  There's that word again.... "trust."  Lack 
of trust is what keeps potential customers who want and need
what you offer from buying from you.  Trust is earned, and
people intuitively know whom they can trust.

Jay Abraham was the first person that I personally heard clearly
explain the sacred trust and obligation that a marketer has to his
clients.  That obligation is to only offer products and services that
really make their lives better.   It's to treat a client the same as 
you would a close friend or a family member... always deeply wanting
only the best for them.  It's also selling them products and services
that you know they need  but may not yet realize that they need.

If you conduct your on-line business with that degree of
professionalism and commitment to your clients, you do a number
of things:

- Regardless of the product line or service that you are
providing, you make sure that the one you offer is the best
available for what your client can afford.  In the real world, not
everyone can afford the best doctor or lawyer. However, the
lawyer or doctor that they can afford is obligated to provide
the best service that they are capable of rendering to their
clients.

- You take yourself seriously. That generally means that you
come across to your prospect as being the expert on your topic.
That sometimes means you may need more training if you're not
the expert on a topic.  Taking yourself seriously also means that
you charge what your time and expertise are worth.   You don't fall
into the trap of competing on the basis of price.

-  You promote something that you believe in.  Some on-line
marketers promote get-rich-quick schemes that they KNOW really
don't offer their prospects any real earning potential. These people
soon burn out - or the universe simply gives them what they deserve. 
When you really believe in your product, that is sensed by your
prospects.  These prospects are therefore more open to examining
the products and services that you recommend as solutions to their
problems.

You don't necessarily need to market important sounding products
on-line  to be a professional.  People need ordinary good and services
everyday, and they turn to the Internet to find them.  A good mechanic,
sometimes covered from head-to-toe with oil, knows the value of
what he is doing.  He knows that if he doesn't service your brakes
properly, it could kill you.  He takes pride in a job well done.  He
sees himself as a professional.

That mechanic also views himself as a professional because he can
do something that not everyone can do. I submit to you, that when
you craft webpages, write ad-copy, create a computer program, or
promote a product through the search engines, that you also do
something that not everyone can do. So I ask you again, "Are you
really an Internet Marketing Professional?"