One thing I’ve noticed in talking to peers and new internet marketers recently is that although both categories of internet business owners will build similar types of sites, the way they build their sites are radically different.

I’ve had experience in construction and I’ll use some building analogies here.

New marketers tend to build like houses (ie businesses) in a pre-fabricated fashion. They tend to use templates that a thousand other website owners are using, tend to use the same cookie cutter techniques that’re mentioned on blogs, forums, ebooks, (even high-end coaching programs), yet their results are below expectations.

What’s happened?

I call this the “DryWall” or “SheetRock” mentality.

When I lived in a rural Ohio, I rented a duplex for $275/month. The house was nothing to write home (literally) about, being a wooden frame with drywall (essentially a higher grade plaster-of-paris that kids use to make ‘clay sculptures’) on the inner and outer wall and with fiberglass stuffed in between as insulation.

In the summer, the heat went right through the walls as if they weren’t there. And in the winter, aside from the biting wind and the snow, we got almost the full effects of the cold Ohio winter.

How’s this relate to internet marketing?

New marketers will build their businesses like a pre-fabricated house – assemble a wooden frame, hammer some drywall together, slap on a quick coat of paint, and start doing business.

Although this might work well for some quick cash, it doesn’t help you in the long haul because the weak foundation is going to hamper your business building efforts.

Instead why not take a look at the experienced marketers?

People who build a house for the long term will take the time to dig trenches in the ground to lay a foundation, cast a concrete slab for the flooring, lay bricks for the walls and erect a roof. This process takes time, especially for the foundation to set and doesn’t yield immediate results.

The difference in your approach to building your business has a impact on your business business lifespan and not just short-term profits, but long-term profits.

A business is built either for ‘quick cash’ (banking on a trend like the Iron Man movie or the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie), while a long term focus is on building an entertainment portal or niche-focused blog.

In the last year, I’ve shifted my focus to building more long-term businesses (although I still have a few “quick cash” niches).

That’s one of the reasons why I’ve spent the last year working on my blogging project: SecretBlogWeapon.