The following information is re-posted with the permission of a true marketing expert, pretty much like the team who built the connect platform pages here. I have seen the members struggle to build revenue based on products or services offered.
I ran into Josh Spaulding's site after observing a self proclaimed diva of marketing following my contacts on LinkedIn. I don't have hundreds of contacts nor though I care to, what would be the purpose other than ego gratification? what I do have is 47 powerhouses and I know them personally or via another business connection.
Forensics, which is a branch of anthropology teaches one to identify a pattern and a purpose, just like detectives. These "slummers" go after contacts that have 400 or more contacts themselves. The craw in my side comes from the lack of civility displayed. This internet user by passed me to add the contacts. LinkedIn is not Facebook or My Space and they state that on their company page. So what's wrong with that? I have a very simple answer; if you are identified it can ruin your reputation. How? 1. your name can be blasted anonymously with true or false information and you will have almost no re-course to remove it. In light of what I know? Take Josh's advice. There is a way to market in straightforward manner without tricks,games and deception, and the end you will gain a satisfied customer, repeat business and that oh,so important word of mouth.
(Go to that URL and sign up for the PodCast though! Mark may not be a full-time Internet Marketer, but he makes a nice extra income online. I won’t disclose his offline income, but it exceeds my online income. So that may tell you why he is a part-time Internet Marketer ;
As obvious as some of these may seem and as often as you may have heard others state the same thing, the following are EXTREMELY important points to understand if you want to find success online!
1. Pick an Internet Marketing Business Model and stick with it – Ask any “newbie” to Internet Marketing what his or her biggest problem is and 9 out of 10 of them will say “Information Overload.” The root of this problem almost always comes from one thing: The person not knowing which business model to adopt and/or trying to do too much at once. It is GOOD to diversify (which I talk about below) but NOT in the beginning.
You need to start out with one business model! It doesn’t matter if that model isn’t the most profitable. You don’t have to do that one model for the rest of your life. But someone who is just getting started is going to have a VERY hard time being successful if he or she is getting confused by trying to figure out multiple models at once, which WILL happen 99% of the time!
Instead, pick one model that seems “doable” and DO NOT even think about another model until you have figured that one out and had at least moderate success with it!
2. Don’t be afraid to invest in knowledge and tools, but be selective – I’ll be the first to recommend a good product. As Andy Beard once stated, Information Products are kind of like outsourcing research and the more knowledge you have the better, but if I’m learning I’m not going to buy every product that is presented to me whether it’s good or not. I WILL however buy every product recommended to me from reputable sources if it is focusing on the business model I have adopted!
The problem is that there are alot of savvy, veteran marketers out there who know exactly what is going through the minds of “newbies” and they leverage that and talk a lot of people into buying xyz product when they don’t really need it!
Bottom line: If your business model is Niche Marketing (for example) and a reputable source recommends a good niche marketing product, buy it if you can. BUT if your business model is Niche Marketing and someone recommends a product on PPC, DON’T buy it, you don’t need it!
There are a lot of good products out there and you should be investing in your business by purchasing solid products that will help you improve your skills in the business model you’ve adopted, but don’t let smooth talkers get any money from you in exchange for a product that is simply going to confuse you and put you off track!
3. Outsource as soon as you can afford to! – You may be surprised how much work is outsourced by successful business owners, both online and offline. Using myself as an example, I outsource ALL of the design work in my business, most of the technical/coding and writing work and paid services do much of my other work. I’m basically left with writing blog posts like this one, writing emails to my lists and working on future sites and products.
If you do all of your own graphics, coding, writing, product development etc. success is going to take a LONG time to find you!
I know you may not have much, if any, money to outsource. That’s fine, I didn’t when I started either. But there will come a time when you can! For the first year or two you should be reinvesting every dollar you make back into your business. This will speed up it’s growth dramatically. If you and/or your family is relying on the money you make online and it’s very little, get a job! I know it’s hard to hear that and accept it, but it’s what should be done.
4. Diversify once you’ve mastered that business model – Diversification is job security as an Internet Marketer! If you rely on one mailing list, one adsense account, one Adwords account etc. what happens to your income if that account is suspended or something else happens? It ceases to exist, that’s what happens!
It’s very important to stick to one business model AT FIRST! But once you have at least moderate success with one business model you should move on and learn another! EVEN IF you make MILLIONS with the first business model you adopt, which is unlikely, but possible. I STILL recommend adopting a 2nd and eventually a 3rd and more. You NEVER know what might happen!
I’ve heard of more than one situation where smart businessmen lost 6 and even 7 figure businesses do to their business not being diverse!
5. NEVER give up! – This doesn’t really qualify as step 5. It’s something that you need to understand at ALL times! From day 1 you need to realize and accept one thing. You WILL fail! It’s inevitable. No highly successful person succeeded all the way to the top.
Failure is part of success just like a cough is part of a cold. When you fail you shouldn’t be surprised. You should be happy that you’ve reached one more step toward success.
I’ll say it again: You will fail! You will fail again. You will fail again and you will probably fail again after you failed the first 2, 3, 4, or 5 times.
EVERYONE FAILS! The difference between those who succeed in the end and those who don’t is those who succeed in the end didn’t quit when they failed the 1st time, the 2nd time, the 3rd time or any other time!
Here is Josh's Advice on building your customer base:
http://www.ethicalim.com/email-marketing/h... I thank Josh for his gracious and professional response to my query to post his blog here.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Tuesday, April 26th 2011 at 12:24PM
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