Yes, that's right. Stop reading articles like this on how to use Internet marketing to make money online.

Why should you stop? Because it is time to stop reading and start doing.

Imagine a youth who wants to be a great basketball player. He spends weeks in the library and reads and rereads every book possible on basketball strategy and how to make the perfect basketball shot. He reads the life stories of the pro basketball superstars to gain inspiration.

Finally, he is ready. He steps onto the court, walks up to the free throw line and throws his very first basketball towards the hoop.

And he misses...of course!

You can't learn a skill solely by reading – reading can give you tips on improving a skill, but your skill is truly honed ONLY by doing. The only way for this youth to be a great basketball player is to spend hours actually playing basketball. Then books and coaching can help him get better.

My first sales letter sucked. So did my 10th. After about 25 sales letters they started getting better, but this is still a skill I am working on mastering. Maybe my 100th or 200th will be closer to perfection. I don't know if my 200th will be perfect, but I know two things:

1. It will be better than my current sales letters.

2. There WILL be a 200th sales letter because I will never give up honing my skills.

My first business tanked. So did my second. My third is now making me a six figure income.

But if I hadn't started the two failed companies, I would not have improved my skill to make the third work.

If I started over now with nothing, I would be back up to the same income in 6 months because I have the skills to make money online. I know how to “play” the Internet marketing game.

Don't get me wrong. Good training materials from expert Internet marketers have their place. Here is how to use them:

• Read a good quality copywriting course or ebook when you are writing real sales letters for a real product you are about to launch.

• Read quality traffic generation training material when you are ready to drive traffic to your first sales letter.

• When you are ready to attract traffic with content like articles, podcasting and videos, start reading guides on how to do this more effectively. 

See how it works? Instead of learning about Internet marketing academically, you learn by doing and then use “how-to's” as reference while you are doing it. Over time, you gain more skill. The best Internet marketers embrace lifelong learning to master the skills to continue to succeed and grow.

Michael Jordan spent hours playing basketball. Wayne Gretzky grew up at hockey rinks. The only way for you to get better at Internet marketing is to create your first list and product and just do it!