Internet Marketing Quiddity

What's the most important issue with running an Internet Marketing Business? Some would say have a great product and an irresistible offer, because with nothing to sell, no-one's going to buy! Others would say Traffic Generation, because without traffic, no-one sees your offer. Others would say its Traffic Conversion, because all the traffic in the world is useless if no-one is taking any action. Getting more sophisticated, you might say it's getting sufficient Income Per Visitor (i.e. the total amount you earn, on average, for every visitor to your site - taking account the lifetime income you get from each customer). And so on. But, of course, ALL of those issues are important. You obviously need something to sell (somewhere along the line), and you won't have a viable business unless you have traffic, and that traffic has to convert well, and your income per visitor is sufficient for you to be able to spend enough on generating MORE traffic so your business grows. So what's the problem for Internet Marketers? The formula is pretty straightforward, isn't it? Perhaps it's a shortage of advice? Perhaps people don't know how to generate traffic or convert it or create a product (or find an affiliate product)? But I don't think that is the case. I suspect if you could search on the hard drive of any internet marketer who's been in the business for a few months, you'd find eBooks and videos and audios and links to membership sites that are full of advice about all those topics. So on that basis, I would suggest that none of those issues is the a critical issue. I would say that the two most critical issues for Internet Marketers are:

• Being Organized

and

• Staying Focused

Staying focused means having a plan or an agenda and sticking to it: not being distracted. Being organized means having processes and organizational systems (such a folder structures) so you know where to store all your information and records, and where to find them again rapidly. I believe these are such important points that I created a seminar for Internet Marketers on just these two issue. It's on Monday 1st September, at 7.00 pm Easter - and it's free! (Find the time in your time-zone)

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Technorati Tags: internet marketing focus, internet marketing organization, internet marketing planning, internet marketing strategy, traffic generation

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*** File under "Business Strategy" in your IM Index Mind Map - click for details. Internet marketing blueprints. The much searched-for golden egg of making money on the Internet. We are all searching for that one effective, sure-fire, guaranteed step-by-step guide to riches. Preferably, it should be "secret" and "never-before-revealed". We are all ready to make the sacrifices of time and effort. And we are even ready to learn a few skills (HTML, how to use FTP, CPanel etc.) All we need is someone to give us the exact steps. The formula. "Just gimmi the goddam blueprint!" Here is what Ralph Waldo Emerson has to say about this:

"As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble."

An Internet Marketing blueprint is, in essence, a "method". So we could paraphrase and get:

"As to Internet Marketing blueprints there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully create his own Internet Marketing blueprints. The man who tries Internet Marketing blueprints, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble."

I couldn't agree more. Time and again, I read sales material about some way to make money on the Internet, and a key "benefit" of the product is that it is 100% Practical - No Theory! In Emerson's terms, that means "100% Method - no Principles". And in Emerson's view - and mine - that is a recipe for failure. And people love that idea because it means (they assume) that they don't have to think! They don't mind working hard and perhaps learning a few skills, but thinking? - no thanks! Here's a specific example from my own experience. I recently signed up to follow a blueprint about Social Marketing. It is probably one of the best and most comprehensive step-by-step guides to building traffic using social networks and blogging. But I have to say .... "phew"! To be fair, the people who put it together make it clear that it's hard work, and they don't pretend there's no thinking involved. But the amount of detail is massive. To follow it through requires a huge amount of dedication (which they make clear from the outset). And few people actually manage it all. I quickly realized that I was never going to be able to follow all the steps, and for a lot of the time, I had no idea why many of the steps were there, nor what many of the terms meant. So I stopped following the steps and decided to try and extract the Principles. What I've ended up with is a Mind Map containing the concepts, the principles and the resources organized in a convenient form. And now, I can develop my own blueprint - my own step-by-step guide - that fits in with my own needs and time availability. The guys who put this system together are honest, respected people who know their field inside out and back to front, and they've put a huge amount of effort into making their system easily accessible and easy to use. But it could be so much better. They are no different from 99% of other people providing guidance in the Internet Marketing world (and many other worlds as well). Knowing a subject well is not a qualification for being able to organize and structure it so that others can learn it. The way people learn, the mix of theory and practice, the different types of expertise, and how they are acquired and developed, the forms of practical support needed for different types of task and different stages of learning - these are all deep and complex issues that are not considered by people creating learning and guidance systems. These are - dare I say it - knowledge management issues!

Technorati Tags: emerson, ForFB, internet marketing blueprints, internet marketing strategy, making money on the internet, ralph waldo emerson

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Recently, I attended an exceptionally stimulating one-day event at Henley Management College. The subject was Jazz in business. See Jazzbusiness @ Henley on Sergej van Middendorp's blog.

What has this to do with internet marketing? Read on to find out....

If you know anything about jazz and improvisation, you will know that "being in the groove" is a state accomplished musicians reach when they are playing at the peak of their performance, and are perfectly musically and rhythmically aligned with each other.

The groove has been defined as "what makes the music breath". This, and other concepts were explored and used as metaphors for business.

The idea of being in the groove can be applied to almost any discipline - including internet marketing. I would regard an internet marketer as being "in the internet marketing groove" when they have developed all skills, discipline and the focus to be able to play a tune and make good money.

The good internet marketing teachers and trainers are now making it clear that you can't become rich just by following a simple plan for 4 weeks. Just like becoming an accomplished jazz musician, it takes time and effort and practice.

They have to first learn to play the instrument and follow the music (follow a pre-set plan) before they can learn to improvise (create their own plan) and finally hit the groove (make music that breaths - or build a business that makes money).

So - I thought it would be fun to trace the steps a newcomer to internet marketing has to go through on their way to the internet marketing groove.

If you've been around the block a few times yourself, see if you recognize any of this. If you're new to internet marketing, here's a gimpse into your future.

Step 1: Naive Enthusiasm:

"Hey! This is great! An easy way to make money sitting at home with no distracting people-issues and relationships to get in the way."

Step 2: Free Learning & Free Everything:

"I'm downloading loads of free stuff and joining lots of free sites. It's getting a bit hard to manage it all, but I'm certainly learning a lot. I'll get the full picture soon and decide where to start."

Step 3: Sales-Pitch Overwhelm:

"STOP! Everyone's shouting at me and telling what I must do, what I must buy. My in-box is overflowing. I keep getting mesmerised by 25-page long sales letters and my credit card is melting."

Step 4: Reality-Check:

"Now I'm totally confused and depressed. I can't keep track of all the stuff I've been gathering. Nothing seems certain - there are too many differences of opinion about everything. I now know enough to realise just how little I really do know. And to cap it all, I'm sick and tired of being treated like an idiot by the same old cynical sales pitches and ploys: any more hype and I'll throw up!"

Step 6: Breakthrough:

"OK! I've worked my way though those problems and I've disciplined myself to focus. I've found someone I trust who's advice I plan to follow and I know enough to have a go. It's been done before, so why not me?"

Step 7: The Invisible Barrier:

"What keeps going wrong? It's not as if I don't try. I've bought several great step-by-step guides where everything is explained in detail. An yet, there always comes a point where things fall apart. Somehow, for one reason or another, things just don't work out, or I find I can't continue with that approach. What the hell is happening?"

At this point, people continue in one of three ways:

Step 8a: Burger Flipping:

"I give up! My online dream has turned into a nightmare. Back to the big M." (No - that's not Microsoft.)

Step 8b: Head Banging Determination:

"I'll try this. I'll try that. I'll try the other. I'll try anything. I'm going to stay positive! I can't see this so-called 'invisible barrier' anyway! So I'll just keep doing what I'm doing till something changes."

Step 8c: Finding The Groove:

"I wised up in the end. I finally got past those step-by-step guides (they did help, though, for sure) and establish my own personal relationship to internet marketing. I continue to work on that relationship, and constantly nurture it. And when I hit the groove - it's great! That's where the money is!"

Are you in the internet marketing groove?

Tell me if you think I've got it about right (or not!).

Alex Goodall

Technorati Tags: ForFB

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