Being an Internet marketer, I get asked all sorts of questions by my friends, family and those outside the field.\u00a0It\u2019s especially interesting because many of them have absolutely no idea about what is involved with marketing online.\u00a0It\u2019s just a very new concept for many.<\/p>\n
I usually first explain how it depends whether you\u2019re talking about marketing a website, a bricks and mortar establishment, an online store, a blog, an e-zine, etc.\u00a0Then I start to get complex with it and go into detail, start providing examples, and end up off on long tangents about all the specifics.\u00a0Many people are fascinated, which inspires some great conversations.<\/p>\n
Anyway, that got me thinking how although Internet marketing isn\u2019t an exact science, and every different project offers its own unique set of challenges (and opportunities), there are some good general learnings I\u2019ve had throughout my career of marketing online that could be applied to most industries:<\/p>\n
1)\u00a0There\u2019s always more than one road to success<\/strong> 2)\u00a0Open, honest, transparent communication is best<\/strong> 3)\u00a0Only work on projects you\u2019re passionate about<\/strong> 4)\u00a0You have to be unique<\/strong> 5)\u00a0Clarity counts<\/strong> Being an Internet marketer, I get asked all sorts of questions by my friends, family and those outside the field.\u00a0It\u2019s … <\/p>\n
\nInternet marketing is many times a big social science experiment.\u00a0That\u2019s the main reason I find it so compelling, even the top guys in the field can\u2019t really put a 100% guarantee on success in a project.\u00a0But, there\u2019s always so many different avenues you can walk down to find success, and you can take a diversified approach with most projects and then really concentrate on what is bringing the desired returns.\u00a0The silver bullet doesn\u2019t necessarily come easy, and there may not even always be a silver bullet online for all companies online.\u00a0That\u2019s the nature of pop culture, however, and the social web is in many ways just a big extension of that.<\/p>\n
\nBeing secretive or closed-off when you\u2019re marketing online is always a bad idea.\u00a0You want to be open, honest and true to what you\u2019re doing.\u00a0To go against this in any part of life is to be put at a major disadvantage and inspire disdain.\u00a0When marketing online, you want to always maintain open lines of communication with your audience, and always listen to them.\u00a0It\u2019s the best (and free) market research there is.\u00a0But you\u2019ll only get it if you\u2019re open.\u00a0I\u2019d like to hope this translates into most things (except maybe poker).<\/p>\n
\nEveryone, and I do mean everyone, is vying for attention online.\u00a0So, if you\u2019re trying to create an Internet marketing campaign and aren\u2019t passionate about it, you\u2019re already setting yourself up for failure.\u00a0Sorry if this is a clich\u00e9, but to not give 100% is essentially to give 0%.\u00a0The campaigns and projects in this space created with passion are obvious not only to other web marketers, but everyone online.\u00a0Web users are exceptionally intelligent\u2026they will see through any of your attempts to do something without passion and probably pass you over for whatever is next.\u00a0It\u2019s true for artists too\u2026especially pop-music artists.\u00a0The ones with staying power have passion.\u00a0The ones flacked and exploited around radio, the web and TV by record labels and are purely backed by a fake image and big marketing dollars don\u2019t usually have\u00a0real\u00a0<\/em>success.<\/p>\n
\nOur world is oversaturated with products, services, restaurants, blogs, brands of soda, etc.\u00a0To create something that is just a little better than something else is still\u00a0blending in, and will only create marginally better results.\u00a0You have to be unique and excel in at least one way.\u00a0You have to create the extraordinary to see big results.\u00a0Otherwise, you\u2019re setting yourself up for the typical, lukewarm results everyone gets.\u00a0Be realistic, but be remarkable.<\/p>\n
\nClearly communicating what you\u2019re doing and promoting on the web is vital to getting the results you want.\u00a0You can frame something in a way that only a small subset of the population will understand it, that is absolutely fine (in fact, an incredibly powerful strategy is to find an ignored subset of the population, and then speak directly to them).\u00a0But ultimately, your messages should all be consistent and clear to your target audience.\u00a0If you can\u2019t explain it clearly to someone in a brief period of time, do you think someone who isn\u2019t close to what you\u2019re doing is going to be able to tell their friend about it quickly and efficiently (or even want to)?\u00a0Also, never dumb down your message if you\u2019re going after a subset (here\u2019s why).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"