If you’re new to internet marketing or business in general, I figured it would be a good idea to go over some basic concepts that will help you to understand the big picture of internet marketing. Most people coming into this industry approach Internet marketing completely the wrong way and don’t have the right idea of what some of these core business concepts really are. This lack of knowledge will only lead to more failures and frustration. I remember before I first started, I thought marketing was all about adverts and selling, which in my mind really meant pitching and “pushing” someone to buy something they may or may not really need. A lot of people have that idea, but it’s the wrong mindset completely. Let me explain… Let’s start out by talking about the “lifeblood” of all businesses and the economy – money. This word can evoke negative emotions in a lot of people, but it’s rather a lack of understanding and our upbringing that created this mindset. Money is simply energy and the measure of the value that you create, which is determined by what the market currently views as valuable. It’s simply just a physical and measurable way to show how much we or someone else values something. Important: Money is neither good nor bad; it just magnifies more of who we already are. What Is Value? This can be subjective, but usually, it’s a solution to a problem, answer to a question, or something that brings a benefit to someone or something. In other words, anything that leaves someone or something in a better place than before. Believe it or not, how much money you have in your bank account right now is more or less how much value (or perceived value) you’ve delivered to society. The question you really need to ask yourself is how many people are you serving and how much value are you serving them? For example, let’s take movie stars. They get paid millions of dollars a year. Why? Because they are delivering value to millions of people through their movies. Then you may ask what about, for example, nursing and emergency services staff, who also deliver a lot of value by saving people’s lives. Why don’t they get paid millions? The limiting factor is the system they are working within, which pays them a salary instead of the results they deliver. They are also limited by the number of people they can serve at a time because they need to be there in person and there are only so many hours in a day.