Automate your Business
Revelations for a New Marketer
1. Education and learning in IM is a very good thing . . . to a point. I recommend that everyone spend 1/2 hour a day, as a minimum, learning about IM (Internet marketing) from a trusted source. Don’t consider learning your craft a chore – relish the opportunity to discover ideas and principles that will fill your life with prosperity. Many of the foundational principles in this discipline are not real intuitive. But a caution is in order: the pursuit of an IM education is no substitute or valid excuse for “on the job training.” Some have been “learning,” nearly full time, for many many years. Instead, learn as you go about your business. If you wait until you “know it all” you’ll waste a lot of time that you could have used to set up, experience and build a simple new business. And believe me, experience is always the best education in this discipline.
2. IM can be simple unless you complicate it to the point that it becomes quite complex. Take note that I didn’t say IM was easy. You should recognize the difference. There are actually very few things you really need in order to set up a sales system, have a product to sell (your own or that of someone else), a transaction platform and a delivery mechanism. But filling that system with prospects and converting them into buyers is not always easy; in fact, selling can be very hard if you don’t know what you’re doing. Especially in the beginning, keep things simple and spend your time understanding how and where to find prospects and how to turn them into buyers.
3. Decisions are your friend. You must make them everyday in your business. Don’t rely on people in a discussion group or a public forum to make them for you. Study alternatives, get feedback to help you weigh the alternatives, then be decisive, choose one, and move forward. Even if your choice is wrong, you’ll know soon enough and have a chance to go with something else. Think about your own life. Everything good that has happened to you has been the result of deciding to do something. Indecision has claimed a heavy toll on many IMers who have literally spent years trying to get started with something . . . anything!
4. Some IMers can only focus on the money. If you do that, you will never be satisfied with the amount you make. A better approach, IMO, is to focus on helping and serving your customers. If you serve well and provide your customers with quality products and services, money will be the result. If you take a personal interest in their interests (not yours), they will recognize you for your empathy and concern and reward you with their money. Owning trust in a world full of doubt and skepticism is a goldmine because your clients will shower you with loyalty and repeat business. Trust of businesses and their methods and motives is a scarce thing these days.
5. Your time is valuable. Sometimes, especially when you’re on a tight budget or even broke, you have to spend your time on all the tasks necessary to execute a business plan. I understand that. But in no industry like IM is the phrase “time is money” more appropriate. Learn well the principle of leverage. It’s what allows you to take your business to increasingly higher levels of income. It’s what allows you to let go of certain time intensive activities that are done better and more efficiently by people trained to be experts in that one thing. It’s what the smartest business owners use to back themselves out of the daily management of routine tasks in order to have more free time to run their companies and enjoy life.
6. In Internet business, you are responsible for everything. Whatever you may now believe, it’s no one’s fault but your own. Period. It’s not Google’s fault, it’s not your mentor’s fault, it’s not the software’s fault, it’s certainly not the customer’s fault, it’s not your ex’s fault, or you mother-in-law’s fault. Don’t blame it on your language, your education, your lack of time, your age, your girl friend, the computer, your niche, PayPal or ClickBank. And in the very rare instance that it really does happen to be someone else’s fault . . . it’s still your fault!
7. Some people are born and live their entire lives in the state of denial. If you have a weakness that stops you from doing a necessary business chore, don’t ignore it, put if off forever, or deny that you have a problem. Get some help, fix it, and move on. If you don’t have money to start a business – go get some (it doesn’t take much). If you don’t have the time to nurture your customers – find the time and quit doing other things that take up all your time. If you don’t know how to attract free traffic – spend some money and go get some paid traffic. Find a way to move around every obstacle in your path. Learn how to do hard things or pay someone to do them for you. The better you get at finding solutions, the easier they are to see and to navigate around.
8. Like-minded people nearly always find or attract each other. If you want to be successful in IM, hang around and pay attention to successful IMers. If you want to be profitable as a blogger, hang around bloggers that are making good money. If you want to have a money making e-commerce store, then befriend, listen to, and pay attention to what profitable store owners are doing. In a similar manner, be very careful about who you choose to listen to and follow. Public forums, chat groups, and online member groups often contain well-meaning but totally clueless folks that love to give “rehashed” advice – the source of which is something they “heard online.” I’m not saying that most of these people here aren’t genuinely nice people trying to help … it’s just that often their advice and tips given are totally wrong.
9. IM is not the place to be timid and shy. I’m a fairly private and quiet person by nature. That’s not to say that I can’t be a leader or a voice of authority when needed. But I can tell you, without reservation, that if you want success as a marketer, you can’t hold back and wait for good things to happen to your or your company. Business is war. You have to “put yourself out there” (so to speak) and force your own success. The best way to do that, IMO, is to be confident and authentic, strive to always deliver quality, and aggressively go after prospects and customers by believing that you can help them and that you do have workable solutions to their needs. Believe in yourself, what you’re doing, selling, and advising. So called “black hat” methods, scamming, peddling garbage, and claiming to be or do what you’re not is the sure road to eventual failure. People tremble because they fear they are not “the best.” You can make money without being the best – but it’s important to do your best – always.
10. Persistence is a virtue. I can think of no other personal trait or characteristic more important in IM. If you can’t persist on a project, or toward a goal, or in giving your business a chance to develop over time, I would suggest you not even attempt to start an online business. I mean this in all sincerity – sometimes persistence is the only difference between a profitable and an unprofitable business. The thought of and desire for instant and quick riches is possibly the single biggest reason for failure in this industry. When it (making money) doesn’t happen fast enough, many people quit, or jump to a new and different method, only to give up and start again and again simply because they did not have the necessary staying power.
There you have it. Ten “truths” about Internet marketing that I have learned that I hope will directly benefit you.
Opposing views are always welcome.
To your online business success,
Steve Browne
www.SteveBrowneDirect.com