How to Become a Web Expert Without Spending A Dime

Imagine answering to no one, setting your own hours and instead of being apathetic and ambivalent about your work, you're passionate, engaged and joyous during almost every hour of the working day. Visualize people coming to YOU for answers to their most important Internet-related questions. Envision emails and phone calls flooding in every day with prospective customers ready to pay you for your knowledge. Read on to learn the secret to achieving all of this in the Web world.

First, it is important to develop discernment, discretion and patience. There are so many programs online, so many e-books, so many self-proclaimed Web gurus and so much information nowadays that it's overwhelming and could potentially squeeze every last penny out of your wallet, no matter how well-intentioned you are.

Where should I go to learn Web marketing? What websites should I visit? Should I go to school for it? Who are the people I ought to be listening to? What are the most important things I should learn? What are the fundamentals? How long will it take me before I can start my own business? The answer to all of these questions can be found . . .

Before I explain, let me tell you a brief story of my inchoate professional life. I barely knew what a computer was when I was in college. It was only after living on both coasts playing music did I conclude that a career in computers may make me a few more bucks than being a musician. I decided I wanted to become a Web expert.

I had first considered attending a high-priced computer school that a geeky programmer friend had recommended. But I had no money, and the school required all its students to attend full-time. I had the crazy desire to regularly eat and continually provide a roof over my head, and for that I needed to work full-time, so this expensive school was out of the question for me.

But by then I had at least become familiar with computers a little and had realized I enjoyed learning how to use them. My options were limited, but I diligently looked in the Want Ads till I found a job that I could possibly do that was related to computers. The job title was "Internet Exploration Specialist". I know that sounds slightly strange, but if you had met my chair-throwing, eccentric boss-to-be, it would make a little more sense.

I got the job and outlasted the most optimistic office pool prediction for how long I would remain working for the perpetually livid CEO. Looking back, it was probably one the best things I could have ever done (minus the maniacal boss, that is). I learned how to surf the Web. I became an expert Internet peruser, a digital explorer, a website connoisseur, and a professional information superhighway surveyor.

At around the same time I learned one of the secrets to becoming an expert at something. You have to put the time in. People who remain working in careers that they hate don't put in the extra time to develop a career in something they love. Pure and simple. It's not what a lot of people like to hear, I know I often fought this law. There really is no other way, besides lottery-winning luck or nepotism perhaps. So while I had down time at work, I read found websites that taught me how to do all kinds of things related to the Web. More importantly, I spent time after work and on the weekends reading books and websites, practicing and developing my skills further.

I have a friend who lives in Colorado who asked me many years ago how I became a Web professional. I explained how I labored at it after work almost every night for years. He was an account representative at an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Not bad, but not a glamorous or high-paying job either. And besides, it wasn't what he wanted to do,

He wanted to get out of that business and do something that he was passionate about. I suggested that he do the same as me and work at something new on his free time. He said that was impossible, he was just too busy. You know what he does today? He's an account representative at an Internet Service Provider.

Back when I began developing my Web career, the Internet wasn't as big as it is today. There weren't as many options for learning Web-related skills. Since I had no money, I simply searched for free online tutorials, primers and how-to's. They became my staple for learning. People were still struggling with what to put online back then, so there were gems to be found, and since I had seriously developed my Web surfing skills, I inevitably found many highly educational websites. And there weren't as many scams back then, there weren't as many "gurus". Web marketing or e-marketing hadn't even become terms yet, so I had a lot of success getting good information.

Today it's different. This is both good news and bad news. I'll start with the bad news.

You can't throw a digital rock into the Internet now and NOT hit a get-rich-quick plan, a super Web marketing program, an Internet expert curriculum, or an e-marketing "expert". You've got StomperNet, Portal Feeder, The Rich Jerk, Pipeline Profits, Strategic Profits and Traffic Secrets to name only a few. There's too much to choose from and they all come for a steep price. Many of these programs may teach you a lot, but it will cost you. I suggest that you don't need to spend any money to learn all you need to know. You're reading this for free, right?

But here's the good news.

Because of the way Google ranks websites now, because the very nature of the Internet as man's most prolific and complete resource on everything, and because of human nature being curious and information-driven, the Web has massive amounts of extremely useful, high-quality and free information. People are falling all over each other trying to produce and publish high-quality Web content at no cost to you.

As I just mentioned, Google is one reason. One main way Google ranks a website is by how many authoritative sites link to that website. The best way to get new links pointing to your site is by creating useful content that can be accessed by anyone. If the content is good and original, people will link to it.

And here's more good news. Of all the subjects there are in the world, and therefore all of the subjects discussed online, the Web is the most popular.

Of course this has to be true. Think about it. Who's doing all the posting? Webmasters. And what do webmasters know best? The Web. So you're going to find a huge amount of tutorials, primers, articles, forum posts, blogs and websites that offer tons of useful information on how to become good at all kinds of Web-related things, and all at no charge.

Here are a few tips for effectively searching online.