Internet Marketing Mistake: Using Only Free Services to Make Money
Many new Internet marketers fall into the trap of believing that they can start their business completely free from any start-up costs. While this sounds like a great sales pitch from an Internet marketing company or the so called “guru”, this is not really the truth.
With any successful business, there is always going to be some up front investment of time and money. However, there are ways to inexpensively market yourself online.
A common mistake that new marketers make is putting their business into the hands of other companies who are likely to change their rules in the middle of the game.
For instance, there is nothing wrong with using free websites to send traffic and links back to your online pages. However, if your entire business model consists of using free sites like Blogger or Squidoo, for instance, then you are putting your future in their hands. These kinds of sites commonly change their rules, guidelines and regulations.
Let’s just say that you have created several Squidoo lenses in the weight loss niche. You’ve spent hours writing articles, pointing them to your new Squidoo lenses. Recently, Squidoo actually did change their policies and no longer allow weight loss lenses.
So what do you think happened to those people who put a lot of time and energy into getting their lenses index in the search engines? They had to either delete their lenses, risk getting them locked or losing their account completely or they had to move all of the content over to another location. Either way, this is a lot of work that shouldn’t have to be done.
By having your own hosting account and self hosted websites, you make the rules. You can decide what you want on your websites. You can use these other free services to direct traffic to your own site, but you should never rely on them for your total business.
By relying on outside companies, you are putting all of your work in their hands. If they decide on a whim to shut the site down or change the rules, all of your hard work could be for naught.
The end result of all of this is that an Internet marketer should set out on a business plan that gives them the most control over what they do online. Using free sites can be a great way to send traffic and creates importance in the search engines however it should never be the main centerpiece for your online income.
Enjoy life,
Huddson
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Comments
Huddson,
I am with you. It take money to make money in this business. You do not need a whole lot of money to get started but there are some basic things you need in order to get started like a domain name, hosting and an autoresponder. Great post my friend! I look forward to seeing what else you will unveil in the days to come.
All the best.
PJ
PJ´s last blog ..EASY CASH WEBINAR by Alex Jeffreys | Free Guide to Fast Track Your Success 
I absolutely agree with you on that JJ, I does take money to make money.
I developed a blog for fun a while month ago and after spending hours building it the company changed the rules so now I can’t get “My” content off the site.
So take note folks “don’t go free go paid” then you have all the control you need.
Gert
Hey Huddson,
I agree you shouldn’t put all your eggs into one FREE basket and hope that they dont change overtime, all that effort will be lost forever.
I use more paid traffic tactic than free just because i know that if i pay i will get!!
Top post mate
Matt 
Matthew Cook´s last blog ..You Are Not Alone…
Hudson well said. Anybody that thinks they can start a business with nothing will end up with nothing. I am not just talking about money, time also, too many people believe that you just set and forget. Sadly not true.
Onwards and Upwards
Pete
Pete Carr´s last blog ..Pete Carr’s Top 10 Blogs You Must Visit
Hey Huddson,
I believe that it’s important to be able to do this work myself. I mean it helps to know that I know what other people are talking about when they speak to me about my website. Once I get some money, I can hire this out, but once again, I think it’s best to do this myself until I get to a point where I need some outside help.
Good post,
Mike
Mike Helton´s last blog ..3 Things You Need to Make Money Online-
Making money without spending money is impossible these days. I’m talking about real income not just a few bucks to pay some bills but you also should be very careful about where/how you are going to spend your money. Searching for reviews and asking on forums is always a great way to start before you go ahead and buy a product/ebook/membership.
God knows how many stuff I decided to buy after two minutes from landing of their website but after 10 minutes searching on Google I find it out that I just saved myself some money.
Tag Your Friends´s last blog ..Tag Your Friends as Care Bears 2
Huddson,
I’m glad I read your article above about Squidoo. I was thinking about using it, but will give it a second thought realizing they might change the rules and all that work would go to waste! Thanks for the tip.
Best regards,
Cheryl
Cheryl *IM* Jones´s last blog ..Thank you to my visitors
Huddson,
I started off approaching Internet Marketing from a low cost, cost free angle. And I think that’s fine! Too many people jump in and waste time and money only to get nowhere.
However, there does come a time that you have to get real and spend some money to make some money. Autoresponders, domain, hosting and, ultimately, coaching!
The main point is to take your time and spend money on what you need to succeed, not on the next big thing…one after the other.
It takes hard work, determination, and a bit of cash to get there.
To your success,
Lesley
Lesley “Wes” Klatt´s last blog ..Week 3- Generating Traffic
Hey Huddson,
I always get emails asking how to set up a profitable business with no outlay, makes me giggle.
Nice blog post, Sally
Sally Neill´s last blog ..In It To Win It And Need YOUR Help