The origins of internet marketing are not widely known, but they are widely speculated on. It seems likely that the industry began simply enough with basic affiliate programs. Marketer A sends traffic to a site that that allows the end user to make a purchase from that site; marketer A collects a 10% commission.

Then marketer A decides that he or she is very good at sending traffic to these commerce sites and collecting commissions that Marketer A creates a simple instruction manual to teach these skills. This instruction manual marketed online as a make money online instruction guide is sold for a reasonable price to Marketer B.

This continues until Marketer A is marketing directly to marketer B who is marketing to marketer C and so on. Before we know it, we are marketing to other marketers.

Now it gets a lot more challenging. You are, for all intents and purposes, sending emails and sales letters to recipients who can already see through the hype. When you watch a television commercial you watching professional marketers sending you images and stories that are designed to elicit a response. Most of the viewing audience of these commercials are not marketers, rather, they are blind to the true purpose of the message.

What is that purpose? The marketers are trying hard to get you to associate positive feelings to the product that they are marketing. They are trying to use impressive imagery to make you think that you can't live without their product. As a marketer to other marketers, you are trying to do the same thing. The difference is that you are marketing to others who supposedly already know the tricks.

So how do you stand out?

The obvious answer is that you need to be better than everyone else. But being better doesn't mean being a better marketer, it means being a better communicator. You need to demonstrate that you are more concerned about your customers than everyone else; you need to demonstrate that you are more knowledgeable than everyone else.

As marketers, we should not be afraid of these tactics, rather, we should embrace them and learn from them. Personally, I'm on a lot of lists and I embrace and look forward to most of the messages that I receive. In this way, I learn the tactics plus, I learn who I have to be better than.

Am I getting training emails from them or just sales letters. Am I getting links to excellent content or just ad swaps and solo ads. This is how most marketers conduct business. I chose to stand out, but providing excellent content and useful information.