February 16, 2008
Beginner Marketer’s Nightmare- Good Marketing?
"This is a nightmare….."
As a beginner internet marketer, just looking for some help online,
there is one problem that is unavoidable and veeery EXPENSIVE—
GOOD MARKETING.
Yep, the very thing you are seeking knowledge about is your biggest enemy.
How ironic is that?
The very skill you are trying to achieve is going to
work against you as you try to learn it.
This still just amazes me… (can you tell?)
You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
That little tug you feel on your wallet…
on your ideas…
on your confidence:
"You Just Need To Do What I Did To Make Millions Online!"
(oh, yeah, and send me $297 for the info….)
Somehow, a good marketer can make you feel like
everything you are trying isn’t going to work without
the ’secret ingredient’ they are selling,
or maybe just ‘this last piece in the puzzle’
will be the thing to
PUT YOUR PROFITS ON AUTOPILOT!!!!!!
And, without hesitation, you:
a. pull out your credit card or log in to paypal
and prolong the nightmare of info overload, or
b. instantly begin to feel as though you are
missing something, incomplete, inadequate…
going to suffer in some way because you can’t
jump on this opportunity…
So what is the solution?
HOW do you end the nightmare????
Try this on for size…..
You wanna be a marketer, right?
You want to learn how to compel people
into buying your goods and services, right?
You want to master the art of persuasive sales copy….
STOP thinking and acting like a MARK and
START thinking and acting like a MARKETER.
Honestly. That’s the secret.
Years ago, when I was living in Los Angeles
and heavily pursuing a musical career, I worked for a bit as a waiter…
The restaurant was popular and trendy,
and frequented by entertainment professionals.
So many of the other employees would get caught up in
the ‘close encounter’ thinking–
(as in, "Oh my God! I am actually talking to David Letterman/Prince/whoever!!!")
Me– I just viewed them as my peers. I was an entertainer too.
They were simply a little farther along the journey than I,
but certainly no more talented or purposeful….
This helped me in a lot of ways:
1.) I kept my wits about me, and didn’t make
any emotionally impulsive decisions—
2.) I didn’t allow their success to intimidate me
or make me feel small, and
3.) I was not struck with the urge to give up
simply because they were where I wanted to be,
and seemed to have all the style, charisma, and sizzle working for them.
I was already seeing myself as a successful entertainer.
What I am suggesting to you
is that you see YOURSELF as a successful Marketer.
You might be a beginner marketer
or a ‘newbie’ marketer (yuk! I hate that term!),
But start thinking of yourself as a PEER in the marketing world.
Who knows? You may be one or two ideas or
strategies away from breaking out
and making good money online!
The BigDogs might have a head start on you,
but some time soon they might be approaching YOU
for some marketing help!
This IS how it happens.
The sooner you start thinking that you
already ARE a player in the marketing world,
The Sooner You Will BE ONE.
If you ARE a marketer, the first thing you will see
when you read a subject in an email line
or a headline on a sales page is
a good subject line.
Or a good headline.
Not a ‘must-have’ ebook or script-
not a "chance to finally make serious money"…
Rather, an opportunity to examine another marketer’s process/ message
and learn something.
Come on. Let’s be honest here…
There is one basic method to making money online.
No matter how it is packaged or rehashed
or broken down….
Find a niche…
get a domain name…
Find or create products or services to sell…
Get a webhost…
Put up a website…
Get an autoresponder…
Set up a squeeze/landing page…
Start getting traffic to it.
The End.
Once you understand this sequence of events,
you are done with the how-to-make-money-online thing.
If you have bought ONE book on getting this stuff set up,
you have enough.
Don’t buy anymore.
Everybody and their sister will try to sell you
their method on getting started.
Guess what…
They all did these same things.
There might be some slight variations,
but there is only one basic path to follow.
And, if you’ve been reading and studying and purchasing
any information at all,
you pretty much know what to do.
There will be tools and info and specific strategies
that will enhance your business at every step of this basic
business-building process, BUT-
Wait until you get to that step
before you even consider buying anything.
I urge you to shut out the noise as much as possible…
but when you do get marketed to, remember:
The best marketing messages are your best lessons.
Do as they do–
don’t just do what they tell you to do!
To your ever-increasing Focus-
Comments on Beginner Marketer’s Nightmare- Good Marketing? »
Keith, I like your approach, it is a breath of fresh air, and I think you are going to save a lot of people a lot of money - if they take it to heart. Also, if they teach themselves, they will get further ahead in this game, because only a real hands-on and analytical method will give you the ability to adapt and grow in a fast changing world. It is a bit like cooking. You can buy a cookbook and turn out some decent meals, but you will only become a great chef, one who can take any ingredients on offer and turn them into a gourmet meal , if you build on basics and experiment and learn from the results. Look at the information on display as your potential ingredients and methods.
The secret ingredient is always in plain view. They are using it. So why can’t you see it? Have you ever tried to look up a name in an atlas, one you are not entirely sure is a town, a city or a region, and can’t find it, even though the index sends you to that map? Eventually you find it curved in large spread out letters along a mountain range. And it is so obvious then. It is when you shift your focus you start to see things which evaded you before.
I am a little new to IM, and have been following a few IM launches recently, and admit with some embarrassment that I would have been tempted to buy at least one of the programs on offer. Thankfully, I was not able to. However, I did get a lot out of the free material on offer. I have seen tangible results from implementing a number of ideas, *and adding my own twist*. But one of the things a marketer said was to give some of your best stuff free to pull the prospect. That begs the question, what are you going to get when you buy their programs? I do believe that teaching yourself, and by that I mean, pick up what is out there, scattered across the internet and beyond without a nice, but expensive wrapper. That is, if you want to be in for the long haul and aim for excellence. Sometimes you gain a lot more from just seeing a little bit, because you have to fill in the details, and thus have the opportunity to hit on something new and unique, setting you apart from the crowd.
I am also in full agreement with Keith on the issue of awe. I’d like to quote myself from a comment I left on Rich Schefren’s blog after seeing a lot of nauseating groveling:
“In closing, I’d like to share one of my many mottoes with other readers: “Don’t seek the star, be the star”. Personally, I am happy to be a sparkling star in a constellation of other luminaries, but not content to be a dark, drab, lifeless moon just borrowing the light of the sun.”
Yes, you should respect and acknowledge achievement, give credit where it’s due - even the greatest are humble enough to admit that they are always willing to learn. But never belittle yourself. Groopies will never get to the top.
I’ll be following your blog, Keith. Thanks for some truly helpful material.