Internet Marketing and the Small Rural Farmer

I live on a small farm in the mountains of North Carolina.  It provides hours of enjoyment and supplements our groceries with some very healthy natural foods.  We produce eggs on a small scale and I keep a small herd of goats, one of which is giving my about a gallon of milk a week.  We are in a very secluded spot on 27 acres of land.  This sound very idyllic, but the reality of it is that it is expensive to maintain.

How does one support a small farm without being independently wealthy and still enjoy it?  "Get a job!", you say.  The news is full of reports of unemployment and lowered wages, so that is not practical because you spend almost more getting to and from a job than you make.  Then you have to consider meals, clothing, automobile expenses besides gas, etc.  By the time you get done adding up the expenses, your salary is gone and so is the reason you got the job - money.  The other factor to consider is time.  A farm, no matter how small, takes a lot of time.  Working at even a part time job would make it impossible to take care of all the farm chores that need to be done on a daily basis and sometimes many times during the day.
The answer for me has been internet marketing and could be for many others as well.  It is able to be done on YOUR schedule and on your home computer.  Even a very rural place, like the one where I live, has internet service.  We even have high speed service, through cable or DSL.  If you don't have a computer, they are readily available at any discount super center or specialty store and the people that work there are trained to help you find the right one.  Computer prices are very reasonable these days.
Another great thing about internet marketing is that you don't need to buy any special software for your computer to be able to do it.  There are some tools for sale on the internet that are supposed to help you, but you don't need them to start your home business on the internet.
A lot of you will think this sounds great, but you don't have anything to sell. Well, you don't need a product of your own to sell.  There are many inventors and other vendors on the internet that want you to sell their products for them and they will give you a commission for doing it.  This is called Affiliate Marketing.  Once you become an affiliate, you get a portion of the price of each product you sell.  With millions of people on the internet every day and the internet as your venue, this could amount to very large sums of money being paid to you.
How do you get started?  The very best way to get started is to find someone that has already successfully done it, a mentor.  If you are not already knowledgeable about computers, you will want to familiarize yourself with how to get onto the internet and search for things.  The internet is virtually overflowing with people and companies that say they will mentor you.  Some of these are outright scams, while others simply want to sell you a book or a marketing tool of some sort in the form of software or a package that you have to figure out for yourself.
The very best mentors are willing to share their experience in person with you on a one to one basis.  They will welcome you with a video and give you some free educational material, then they allow you to "test drive" their system.  This is important.  You will want to take full advantage of this kind of opportunity to make sure this is something you really want to do.  Internet marketing is not above the capabilities of most people and is a very attractive means to make money, but it's not for everyone.  This method of mentoring will allow you to proceed at your own pace and not wipe you out financially if you decide to take another route.
If you do decide to stay with your mentor or mentoring group, you will get many advantages that the person without a mentor does not get.  You will get the wisdom of people that have already become successful in the internet marketing business.  You will get an education in internet marketing, whether you do affiliate marketing or are selling your own product. If you get the right mentor,  they will guide you through all the very detailed steps involved in getting your own domain and setting it all up so you can start producing that extra income needed to run your farm.
The very important added advantage is that you can schedule your business time around your farm time.  The internet never closes.  If your mentoring group is very good, the community will be international, so it will not matter what time of the day or night you need help, someone will be there to assist you.
This article is aimed at the small hobby farmer in a rural area, but anyone living in a very small town or out of the way country location will appreciate the the practicality of having an internet marketing business at home.  It just makes a lot of sense.

By:  Lorraine Ballard