In my previous post about Strategy Vs Tactic, I talked about the importance of having a strategy if you want to succeed in Internet marketing. In fact, having the right strategies are also very important when it comes to other areas of life.

Since this is an Internet marketing blog, I’ll just focus on that area in this post.I’m sure many of us, starting in our Internet marketing journey have bought “stuff”, me included. Stuff like eBooks, software, CDs, and coaching programs. We purchased these “stuff” thinking that they would further our cause in our online businesses.

What we’ve purchased are actually just a bunch of tactics, without having a clear idea of how we are going to put them all to work in setting up our online businesses. We buy them thinking, “Yeah, that’s really useful. I’m sure I need them in the near future”. Well, months passed and the CDs are still sealed in the original wrapper, the eBooks and software are still zipped up somewhere in the hard drive, the coaching programs are already gone and done with…but still no action!

Or maybe you’ve put some of the “stuff” to use in some un-coordinated fashion that leads nowhere.

Come on…I’m sure some of you are virtually nodding your head and understand what I’m saying! I’m guilty of some of that too!

Without a clear overall strategy on how we are going to build our online businesses, any new “stuff” that we come across will tempt us. And we will buy if the sales copy is good enough.

However, with a clear strategy, we will process each “next-best-thing” and see whether it fits into our strategy. It becomes clearer whether we need to invest more time to figure out whether and how this “next-best-thing” fits into our strategy.

To formulate your strategy, you got to have your goals and objectives set up. Each person’s goals are different and therefore, the strategy is different for each Internet marketer.

Take an inventory of all the “stuff” you have. Make a list of what’s in your possession. For instance, that web graphics package you bought, or that link cloaker software you purchased, or the eBooks sitting in your hard drive, or that eBay self-study course. List down every single item.

Get back to those goals and objectives that we had formulated and see how to integrate them into a plan to further your cause in Internet marketing. It’s the strategy that drives everything. Strategies set the direction of your actions and map out a path for you to navigate through it. The tactics are there to implement the strategy or strategies, as well as all the tools that you’ve purchased or obtained and the skills to use them. If you do not have the skills, learn them. Or if that’s too difficult or take up too much of your time, outsource the tasks.

So the next time you come across an Internet sales letter or attend an Internet marketing seminar, pull your hand-brake before you click the “Submit” button or hand over your credit card, and ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Does this fit into my strategy and do I really need it?
2. If it does and I need it, do I have a similar thing already in my possession? (That’s why taking an inventory of your items is important)
3. If I don’t already have it, do I need it now?

To succeed in Internet marketing, you have to start thinking about your goals, objectives and come up with a strategy or strategies on how to stake your claim on a significant portion of the online money pie.