Who is in Charge of Your Marketing?

Are you in charge of your online marketing or are you leaving it to some third party?

I’m a big fan of Dan Kennedy’s marketing tips and when I first started online, I learnt some valuable lessons from him.  The one that really stuck in my mind is “be in charge of marketing your business.”

But what exactly does Dan Kennedy mean because if you’re a technophobe right, you don’t want to get your hands dirty or tied with website building, graphics or search engine optimization.

Well, the good news is, this isn’t what Dan Kennedy was referring to.

And, I’m going to use a real life situation here to explain my point and I hope after you read this short case study, you’ll be motivated to take control of your marketing.

I was speaking to someone a few weeks back who wanted to put some affiliate links on their site, but they had zero content on their site.  Naturally, I explained that putting up a banner with the affiliate link would be insufficient because to make money, they’d need traffic.

In short, it transpired that despite the fact that this person had been coached for 2 years, they didn’t have a clue about the process of marketing.

This person had thrown their hands up in the air saying they were not technical and in doing so had abdicated (and I do mean abdicated) their entire process of marketing.

Now, you’re probably asking the question “well what about her coach?”  Good question!  But here’s the rub … this person has changed their business model and online business so many times that I was not surprised that two years later, they had no content, no traffic and no business.

To me, it felt that in “deciding” that they were no good technically, they had outsourced everything technical (which is good) but also seemed to have adopted a mentality that you could make money online without traffic and without content.

Needless to say, I was very straight with them and suggested they go sign up to Ed Dales 30 day challenge so they could learn the process of marketing.

Even if you don’t “do” the techie stuff yourself, you need to understand that like anything else, there is a process to marketing.

If you fail to understand that process, you fail to understand marketing and you fail to be in charge of your business.  And the result … your business WILL fail.

With the casestudy I provided you with above, it wasn’t just the absense of content and traffic that was the issue, this person seriously missed the mark on how to get traffic.

I had one person say to me once “my blog’s been up for months now and not one person has signed up to my newsletter.”  Well the answer to that one was easy, “you have five articles on your site which are at best mediocre.”

And, I’m sorry if I offend the freebie seekers now, but learning how to do things properly online does not begin and end with gleaning “tid bits” from this site or that blog - here and there.  At some point, you’re going to have to SPEND SOME MONEY!!!  Did I shout!

I believe I did, but people really have to hear this.  None of us learned to read and comprehend grammar by picking up books and scanning them or reading a page from this book and another page from another.  Getting the whole picture is what what helped with comprhension.

So, if you want to be in charge of your business, you have to be in charge of your marketing and to do that, you’re going to have to learn the process of marketing.  The best way to learn?  Follow a step-by-step program.  If you find a free one then great and I do highly recommend Ed Dale’s 30 Day Challenge for starters.

You’d also do well to hire a coach or mentor who has done what you would like to do so they can show you exactly what you should be doing and, what to avoid.  Ask yourself the question, “how do I learn best,” and then find something that matches your learning style and stick to it.

Even if you outsource elemements of your online business and even if from day one, you have no intention of doing it yourself, understanding the process is going to turn you into a an intelligent and savvy marketer who will know the right questions to ask from the right people.

Until next time,

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What Will Smith Taught Me About Online Marketing

I’ve just done watching a YouTube video of Will Smith being interviewed by Jonathan Ross here in the UK and apart from the fact that I find Will Smith naturally funny, there were two things that he said that really resonated with me:

In the first video, he was asked by Jonathan, “what gets you angry” and to which Will Smith replied, “big fat liars” which reminded me of why so many newbies on the Internet are skeptical of purchasing new products.  Because in the past and and even now, there are some big fat liars who will sell you anything based on hype and make out that anyone can do it and in fact, you can make millions from your 4th room, wearing only your PJ’s. 

And yes, I know of many Internet Marketers who built million dollar businesses from their bedroom so, I’m not dismissing the fact that this is true and, I understand people’s skepticism about purchasing products from “snake oil” marketers but, on the other hand, in video two, Will tells the story of how he made a load of money and then lost it all when the IRS came and claimed all he had, including his home.

After he lost it all, he borrowed some cash from a friend and moved to LA where he hung around outside The Pauley Pavilion where the big names gathered for three months until one evening, he had a converstion with a man, that would change his life … he gave him the part for the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire.

Are you listening and reading now …

He stood outside The Pauley Pavilion, LA, for THREE MONTHS!  He would just speak to these guys and then through association, he landed himself a major part in an American Sitcom.

He didn’t give up, he was persistent and determined to win, because he knew what he wanted.

Sadly, these are some of the attributes or characteristics that are often missing when people begin marketing online.  Whilst skeptics of the “Get Rich Quick” schemes, they still have a misconception that they can make a lot of money in little time with little effort and, with very little or no money.

And I’m being transparent with you now, I promoted my own workshop using the marketing spiel of building a business with very little money and for all of the delegates, I built them a blog but, not one of them did anything with it!

They still had the “build a site” mentality instead of a marketing mindset which acknowledges that the blog is only the tool to help you achieve what you want to achieve online.

And, I actually don’t agree that anyone can start an online business either … okay to an extent I do … anyone can start, but it takes a particular breed to finish!!

Putting up a blog or website isn’t and never will be Internet Marketing.  Promoting and marketing the services, affiliate products or whatever you blog about IS marketing.

So be honest with yourself now, how many programs have you purchased, got half way through and abandoned because in your view it didn’t work?

Do you think if Will Smith had given up even after the eighth week he would have been the star of the Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, played Ali or stared in Men in Black?

Will Smith knew what he wanted and he wasn’t going to stop until he got it. 

Now the question is ….

Do You Know What You Want?

Because, if you don’t know what you want, you’ll just keep jumping on the wave of whatever new phenominon hits the web instead of focusing on your dream.

Mike Filsaime, Internet Marketer, wrote a report about a year ago which really was the turning point in my life.  He talked about being on your boat going to Tahiti which, is your dream destination but each time another boat passes by, the skipper suggests that some other island is the most fantastic place to be so you change course and head for this new lsland.  Five years later, you die on the boat, never having accomplished your dream and never having reached any of the Islands because you kept changing the course of your destination and direction. 

After reading Mike’s report, I stopped that day and took stock of my life … what did I want?  Was I following my dream of someone elses?  What did success mean to me and, how did it differ from those of some of my mentors?

I had met so many Internet Marketers in previous years who boasted about their big house, big cars (pleural) and big boat and for a start, the big boat just does not entice me … I’m happy to be passenger on someone elses boat!  I don’t want to live in a huge house (though I’ll be happy to own one) and, I’d be overly satisfied with one big car … so long as it’s a Merc!

My point is though, you cannot measure your success by what someone else wants or needs because it will throw you off course.  So, the first thing you have to do is be truthful to yourself about what your deep rooted desires are.  If you’re not mad on taking exoctic holidays, don’t feel guility.  If like me, you’d be very happy being a passenger on another person’s boat, don’t feel guilty.  Focus on what you want to accomplish, what you want to achieve and not only will it be easier to focus, marketing will become much easier and, it will be easier to achieve your goals.

As Jim Rohn said, “the bigger the reason why, the easier the how.”  Purpose brings persistences and persistence gets results.

Whatever you do, be like Will Smith.  Be persistent in the pursuit of your dreams and never give up.

Until next time,

 

Change Your Online Business Model Or Watch Your Business Die!

Is your business suffering because you’re too “emotionally tied” to your old, tired and worn out business model?

I’m telling you, there is nothing that baffles me more than watching people waste thousands of dollars (or pounds) on building a website and then deciding it’s not good enough and then spending thousands again to have more of what they had before.  If the first model didn’t work, why are you pulling it down and creating more of the same thing? 

I’ll tell you why shall I? 

It’s comfort! 

You’re so emotionally tied to what you’re familiar with, that you’re too afraid or too complacent to move away from that comfort zone and follow a model that is proven to work.  A model that could take your business to a new level. 

This I believe is the same trap that the Associated Press is falling into right now because they’re so attached to their old paradigm … that people still want news the old fashioned way …. like paying reporters to travel and write stories that they then syndicate to traditional news organizations.  They’re even suing Moreover for linking to their stories and now in defence of their action, the CEO Tom Curley states that: 

“We — the news industry — have come to that fork in the road.  We must take bold, decisive steps to secure the audiences and funding to support journalism’s essential role in both our economy and democracy, or find ourselves on an ugly path to obscurity.” 

The sad truth is, in my opinion the Associated Press are probably already walking that “ugly path to obscurity” and it seems that the only people not recognizing they’re probably on that path is them.

It was only about four months ago whilst watching Working Lunch here in the UK that a journalist being interviewed said that they recognised how poweful blogs were for bringing up to the minute news to the masses and as journalists, they had to adapt to blogs or watch the profession die.  Perhaps Tom Curley could do with listening to some of these pearls of wisdom.

But, that’s the Associated Press - they’re big and whilst someone will hang for their downfall (although not literally) the CEO will just go and get himself another job elsewhere. 

But let me ask you this, 

“Could your business be on an ugly path to obscurity because you won’t step out of your comfort zone and change your business model?”

If the Associated Press ever does go under, I’ve no doubt that someone in the organization will say “we should have seen it coming sooner.”  And if you’re trying to build an online business, it shouldn’t be too hard to establish if you’re on the slippery slope to failure because you’re either:

1. Not making any money from your website or blog,
2. Your business is stagnent and has been stagnent for some months
3. You’re having to work twice as hard to bring in the same level of income that you previously enjoyed

Now listen, I know competition is tough on the net, but every day, someone brings out a piece of software that enables you to automate your business, or comes up with a business strategy that is guaranteed to make you more money.  All you have to do is copy one of the “proven” methods that best suits your business and your personality - I did say personality - there are some methods that I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole simply because they just don’t suit me.

Also, it’s a fact that over 90% of businesses do not know how to market on the Internet so unless you’re in a highly competitive market such as Internet Marketing itself, you have a very good chance of winning online in your chosen field of business.

A word of advice though …

If you already have an offline business and you want to take it to the World Wide Web, but you know you’re not really interested in marketing on the Internet - i.e. you just want a web presence rather than really working your online business - then in my view, a website is what you shouldn’t have!

Personally, I can’t see the point in having a website unless you’re going to work it.  And just because you found the best designer to build you the best site, does not mean that you’ll get any visitors to your site, make any sales or sell your services.  And my best advice to you is that if you don’t know anything about either SEO, article writing or linking strategies and you’re not prepared to either outsource or learn them (bearing in mind, SEO could cost you an arm and a leg for very little return), keep your money in your pocket and build yourself a basic blog.  At least you can become recognized an authority even with your infrequent but ”quality” blog posts - a status you’ll never achieve online with a “third person speaking, corporate looking, dead as a doornail website.”

I know this might sound harsh, but there is nothing worse than visiting a website and it feels as though “no one is at home!”  Ever get that feeling?  I personally feel that about membership sites built with Joomla, but that’s another story!

My point is though, if you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always got.  So don’t think that by tearing down your old website and building a better “same old” site is going to make any difference to your online business.  

But you’ve seen the figure … over 90% of businesses do not know how to market online and so my guess is that by following a proven online business model, you’ll not only bury your business for fear of moving away from your old outdated business model, you’ll build a better stronger business and in the process, a stronger you.

To Your Online Success,