Hang around any internet forum for a while, and you're sure to read a post from some exhausted, disillusioned 'apprentice' internet marketer who is ready to give up.

It's not only internet forums that carry sad tales of endless hours spent trying to 'break in'. You'll often see stories
like this in testimonials for a system that has finally worked: relieved buyers tell of their rocky journey before
finding the solution that did it for them.

If you're one of those who are dealing with a fed-up spouse who is urging you to find a 'real job', or credit cards
that have reached the red zone after huge sums spent on the next sure thing, you may well be getting
close to burnout.

What do you do? Keep trying - or give up? And if you do keep trying, how can you know what will work best for
you? What is the best use of the hours you have available to you, without your health suffering?

Here are a few tips to help you find your way through the maze.


1.  Work on the Tasks That You Find Easiest - Outsource the Rest.

There are many ways to make money on the Internet, but most of them require you to know how to work with
two things: words and websites. When you're a beginner, focus on working with your strengths. For example,
if you are a confident writer but a dud with the technical stuff, spend your time and money wisely. Use sites like Elance.com or Workaholics4Hire.com to find someone to do the things you find difficult. (You could spend
a whole day trying to master something an expert could do in twenty minutes.) Instead, let the professionals
work on the geeky stuff, while you write your own sales copy and tweak articles to make them unique.

If you're not so hot with either words or the technical aspects, you have a choice: (a) you can pay others
to do most of the work, while you come up with the ideas; or (b) you can invest time to teach yourself
necessary skills.

The quickest road to burnout is trying to master everything at once. ("I have to work this stuff out in the next
three weeks or get another job!") Be kind to yourself, and allow yourself whatever training period you need.


2.  Work With Your Personality, Not Against It.

By the time you're ready to embark on an Internet business, it's likely that you have enough life experience
to understand your own work patterns. It is essential that you create whatever conditions you need
to work efficiently.

Once you have chosen the type of business that seems right for you (for example: creating niche products,
or building content sites that will bring in money from AdSense and affiliate sales) your first step should
be to create a checklist of necessary tasks. What is the very first thing you need to do? What is the second?
What is the third? Write them all down.

Decide on which tasks you will handle yourself, and which tasks you will hand over to others. Arrange these
tasks in two separate lists. (If you have no money to outsource anything yet, then you'll still have one big list.)

If you are outsourcing certain tasks, find the professional who will be handling them and get things underway
before you begin on your own list. This will give you a mental boost, because things are already happening!
(Note that some outsourced tasks may have to wait until you have completed a step on your own list.)

Look back at your past experiences with approaching projects or new tasks, and decide which of the two
following work patterns sounds most like you:

~ you work best with a 'to do' list that challenges you, ticking off each task as it is completed.

~ you become overwhelmed if you have too much on your list; you work best if you have just one task in front
   of you at a time.

Far too many new internet marketers panic at the sight of a seemingly interminable list of tasks. At the end
of a day, if they've checked only three boxes out of twenty-seven, they panic. It all seems too much - and
paralysis can set in. That, in turn, leads to disillusionment and another failed business.

If you know that this will be your reaction, then put your list away. Instead, write out the very first task on a piece
of paper, and put THAT in front of you. That's all you have to accomplish - that one task.

Be careful that you don't look upon a whole complex project 'one task'. For example: don't write down 'build
a website' as Item 1 on your To-Do List! Break large tasks down into smaller jobs, and focus on that. If your
first task in building a website is to download the necessary software and install it on your computer, write
that down as one thing on your to-do list.

Work your way through one task at a time, and give yourself credit for what you have accomplished. One final tip: pretend that you are hiring yourself, and treat yourself kindly - like a new employee that has to learn the ropes.
As a boss, you wouldn't unfairly overload a 'newbie' starting out in the business - so don't do it to yourself!