Using the internet to market products and services is very powerful and not particularly complicated. Yet 97% of people who create an online marketing business will fail.This online marketing guide will show you what it takes to be in the top 3%. Below are some tips that should stop you from throwing valuable time and money away.1) Find a mentor – Use someone who you know has had a successful online business in the past to gain knowledge and support. Try and set aside one on one time with your mentor to discuss your business plan in depth. Make sure they provide you with contact information and weekly webinar training. If they don’t, they’re probably not the real deal.2) Write out your online marketing strategy – plan out every day of every week for the first 3 months. This will mean you get the most out of your time in this very important stage of your internet business.3) Find a product – your product needs to be unique and of high value. This isn’t hard to find. There are actually plenty of internet marketing companies out there that provide you with a product to sell and also create a sales funnel for you. Be careful though. Do your research on the company before you buy into anything because there are lots of scams out there.4) Start with free marketing methods – use methods like article marketing, video marketing and social media marketing to drive traffic to your business. Take massive action for the first 3 months. Pump out hundreds of articles and videos and add thousands of friends on the social sites. This is a long process and can be demoralizing because you won’t see results for quite a while. You need to be patient.5) Use paid advertising – You should only start paying for your traffic once you are generating regular leads. When you’re earning a small amount from sales you can pump this money into your paid methods. This is when your traffic will really start to explode and everything you earn is profit.Try and read another online marketing guide as well, or more than one. There are lots of different ways of doing this. This is just my way.