As you start getting your website and content and squeeze pages and promotion and all the other stuff that makes up internet marketing worked out, it’s worth remembering that there’s rarely one single correct answer for most of the questions that will crop up.

Some things will have their staunch supporters – WordPress seems to do that for website design, Apples for phones and computers and don’t get started on the browser wars between Chrome and Firefox and Internet Explorer (or Edge as Microsoft now want to call it).

Other things will be more open with a “horses for courses” response.

And others may not have a simple solution at all. Fortunately that’s rare nowadays – chances are if it’s been done elsewhere (especially if it’s been done elsewhere in lots of different places) that you can get it free or cheap. Programmers are weird like that – it’s one of the reasons open source programs like WordPress exist.

The operating system on your phone wasn’t cheap to develop and if it’s Android based is theoretically free although this article says otherwise in practice.

But that’s digressing a bit

Wherever you turn in internet marketing you’ll hit questions that need answering.

You’ll run up against questions all the time.

Most of them will seem to demand an answer – partly because our minds really hate it when things are left unanswered – even if they don’t really need an answer now if ever.

Quick digression on our minds needing answers

If you ever went to Saturday morning cinema or if you’ve ever watched a series like 24 then you’ll know that they almost always leave you with a cliff hanger. Even some TV series are doing that at the end of each season.

That unanswered question plays on your mind.

It tries to close the loop and resolve the answer.

And it almost forces you to watch the next episode.

You can do the same with your sales letters and website content – leave unanswered questions quietly disrupting the minds of your readers.

Those open loops work brilliantly – that’s why top copywriters are paid big money and why a lot of them know rather more about neuro linguistic programming (NLP) than they’re likely to admit.

That includes me – I’ve trained in NLP and use it without really thinking about it. It’s become second nature and I’ll drop embedded commands into places or deliberately (or not deliberately) confuse things or leave open loops.

And I’m relatively amateur – some of the real “pros” I know can leave your head spinning if they decide to go down that route.

Others challenge you to spot all the methods they’ve used.

But you don’t need to know NLP to do that – Joe Sugarman (Blublockers) used misspellings in some of his adverts and offered a discount for every one found. No-one got the full available discount but lots more people engaged with the advert and more people bought than would have done if it had been left as a plain boring ad.

That’s our quest for answers again. In that case, how many words weren’t spelled correctly.

K.I.S.S.

I find the best way most of the time is to follow the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle.

There are enough complicated things on the web without us overthinking and adding to them.

Einstein is quoted as saying “If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.”

There’s a lot to that thought.

Most of us tend to over-complicate things.

If you don’t believe me, look at your phone.

It makes phone calls, sure.

But it also sends text messages, takes still and moving photos, gathers your email, checks the progress of your Amazon and Ebay orders, tells you what the weather is going to be like, lets you browse the web and order food and helps keep you fit and tracks where your friends and family are.

Hmm. Not a very simple device at all.

And those are just scratching the surface – Apple and Android devices both had over 1.5 million apps to choose from in mid 2015.

So keeping things simple is probably essential.

In fact it could even be a selling point for whatever you’re trying to promote.

I know it’s one of the reasons a meditation program I promote sells so well – it’s simple to use.

It also doesn’t take much time.

Which is the other thing that should be on your “keep it simple” list.

Because time is something nearly everyone would like to have more of.

Back to no single right answer…

The other really important thing to remember is that almost nothing is set in stone.

You can change hosts, domain name, autoresponder company, site software and near enough everything else in your online business plan.

Some of those changes may be forced on you – if your site gets too popular, you’ll find that you outgrow your “unlimited” hosting plan, that kind of thing.

Other changes could just be a sign of the times – when I first started on the web, Perl was the only way to make websites not be simple, static, pages. Now it’s almost a dinosaur and getting a Perl programmer is nowhere near as easy as it was a decade ago.

Now it’s PHP or Python or Javascript or one of lots of other solutions.

Each of which is better for certain things than others and may even be brought in to help out another system. Most of the websites I work with use PHP and Javascript in a way that each works to its strengths.

And sure, some changes may be more difficult than others. Moving a large website from one host to another or changing the underlying database structure of a site for instance (neither of those are recommended if you like an easy life).

But they’re changeable if you don’t get them right in the first instance. Often with outside help as bigger problems tend to need a bigger skill set.

And, sure, there may be some dented pride occasionally but, a bit like a bad hair day, chances are you’re the only person who will care enough to notice.

Or like when someone fluffs their lines in a speech or presentation – if they don’t make a fuss about it, they’re almost certainly the only one to notice.

Another thing to keep in mind is that help is always available.

People on the web have a wide variety of skills and knowledge. Everything from web novice to veteran and all points between.

They’re everywhere – on the forums you use, on Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn, etc.

Lots of them are glad to be asked to help – it’s almost a badge of honour. And often the only payment they’ll expect is a simple “thank you”. Either personally or publicly.

If you can’t get help there, your supplier (hosting company, autoresponder supplier, etc) can often help.

They’re used to it.

The chance of you being the first person to ask a particular question is incredibly low. I’ve managed it once in the last 30 years to my knowledge. And I ask quite a few questions and delve quite deep into things when I’m in the right frame of mind. And, yes, that’s an unanswered part of this page as I’m not going to tell you what it was I found. Not that I can remember apart from it being a bug in some quite expensive commercial software.

So don’t be afraid to ask.

Or you can outsource the things you don’t want to do or don’t have the time or patience to learn how to do.

Fiverr can be good – I’ve had some quite technical stuff done on there for $5 or $10.

The trick is to actually read the reviews and to ask pre-sales questions using the contact link.

Most reputable suppliers will be happy that you asked because it’s easier to say no before you’ve bought the gig.

You can also use the speed and quality of their reply to decide your final solution – I tend to send 2 or 3 pre-sales requests for the complicated “under the hood of the website” stuff but just go straight to the order if it’s something straightforward like a whiteboard video.

You’ll probably know instinctively which route to take.

For more complicated tasks I’ll use sites like Freelancer and PeoplePerHour.

Again, no single right answer for whether to use one of those or another freelance site.

I’ve found PeoplePerHour good for fixed price jobs – they call them “hourlies” – and for bigger projects.

And I’ve used Freelancer and its various predecessors, usually with good results so long as I choose the person wisely.

Freelance sites can often get you out of a hole.

Again, the experience of the people on them varies and it pays to ask pre-sale questions.

Sometimes you’ll even get the whole job finished before you’ve had time to accept it – I’ve had that happen on several occasions and it’s a weird but nice feeling.

Writing has its own freelance sites.

My favourite is iWriter.

If you spec the job right and go for higher word counts (because lower word counts seem to attract the less able writers) then the writers there can create some decent work.

It’s better in my view to write it yourself.

But if you want a first draft rather than a blank screen for your content ideas it’s definitely worth a look although there are lots of easy ways to create content that’s unique to you without too much brain ache.

Or you could “cheat” and get free content if you prefer.

See what I mean about no single right answer?

The important thing is to do it first rather than let it stall you too often.

A “Ready, Fire, Aim ” approach is often the best.

And make your content work hard.

This started out as a 450 word post on a site I’m a member of.

It’s turned into the 1,759 word post on my site that you’re reading here.

It will morph into a PDF and a video.

Maybe it will become part of a Kindle book.

If I wanted to focus on people who like audios the video would get the soundtrack stripped out (VLC does that, free) and used as a podcast as well.

But – above all else – start.

That’s the best way to find out what works in practice rather than just theory.

And if you’re still not sure where to start, take a look at this free video where I show you how to use affiliate marketing to get yourself started fast.