Over and over, we read stories about young teens or twenty-somethings getting rich on the Internet. While this does happening, the question is how? Of all the people who try Internet marketing (IM), only 5% will succeed. To put this in perspective, about 43% of college freshmen in the United States will actually complete a degree. Less than 50% of small business start-ups succeed. This perspective indicates that Internet marketing is indeed very risky. The question is, is it too risky?

The lure of being your own boss, working at your own schedule, having more time to spend with family, and building up multiple streams of income to recession-proof your income is almost irresistible. Fear of layoffs is also a reason many people are diving into the IM without the first clue how to go about it. These people find that there is not a lack of information on how to do IM, but too much. Trying to learn every method and figure out which is best leads to what one Internet marketer dubbed 'IM ADD.'

The sheer number of products available to neophyte or beginning Internet Marketer is incredible. Many offer instant success or a quick way to make millions online. These are misleading a best, and fraud at worst. Beginning marketers who buy into these promises often quit when instant success is not forthcoming. By trying a method for a short period of time, deciding it doesn't work, and moving on to a new method, these frenetically active marketers think they are working as Internet marketers, but in reality, they never complete any project and never have even one sale.

Internet marketing is not rocket science, nor does it require an advanced degree. Anyone, and that means anyone, can do Internet marketing, but it does require some smarts. It requires you to find a quality training program to help you sort out all the fraudulent claims and find quality instructions. It requires you to actually take the time to learn what you are doing, first. You wouldn't expect to read a book on surgery and be hired as a surgeon at your local hospital, would you? You have to learn what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it. Then, you have to implement what you have learned. If you implement it piecemeal while you are learning, even better.

Too many people think Internet marketing is their ticket to getting rich quick. When that doesn't happen, instead of working to make it real, they quit. Those who stick with it, keep learning, and don't give up when the going gets rocky will make it. They are the 5% who succeed.

There are several methods of Internet marketing. Some, such as pay-per-click advertising can get you financial trouble if you do it without understanding what you are doing. Other methods, such as article marketing, are free, but you have to do it right for it to work.