Do you ever feel like the more you learn... the less you know? This can be particularly true of Internet Marketing Strategies.
Some of the things you see taught seem downright pointless even, yet people do them anyway - even if they're confused about why.
There comes a point where the more you know, the dumber you are.
Dumb is a strong word. I was simply trying to make a point. It boils down to confusion.
Imagine for a moment that you'd never studied online marketing, SEO, or any other means of marketing your business on the web. Would that change the way you run and/or promote your business? Probably so!
You'd do best to rewind your brain completely. But since you can't do that (yet! lol), I'll give you a simple filter that will prove incredibly helpful...
WHY You Feel Confused
There's a reason people get confused about Internet Marketing Strategies. And if that's you, don't feel bad - you're NOT alone! 😉 The reason is usually pretty simple:
You don't know WHY you're doing it, you've just been taught that you should.
Have you ever felt that way?
Not every strategy is right for you - or your business, or your market. Some strategies even contradict each other. You should do this. You should do that. This works best. You have to do that if you want to make any money online. (ETC!) 😐
It's downright overwhelming, isn't it?
Anytime you feel confused, it's likely because you're not sure of the "why" behind what you're doing. Maybe it seems pointless, or contradicts your common sense.
How To Clear The Confusion and Regain Your Focus - Fast!
Most of the things you feel totally unsure about have absolutely nothing to do with "serving your market." They are simply things you've been told, or taught, or that you read somewhere. And without asking yourself "why" you chose to implement those strategies. (No fault on you. Most people do - until they learn better.)
You may even think you know why, or "someone" may have explained why (ie to get better search engine rankings), but without proof or live examples, you're still pretty much shooting in the dark.
Let me give you some examples...
- How long should a blog post be?
- How many links should you include in a post?
- How many Inbound Links are enough?
- How many blogs should I comment on?
- How many times a day should you Tweet?
- How often should I email my list?
The answer to all of these questions is the same:
It depends.
Now if that just confused you more, stick with me for a minute...
Any piece of content should be as short or as long as it takes to make the point. The number of outgoing links you include in a blog post depends on how many references or resources your readers need.
I could go on and on, but the point is that you should throw away all of the "standards" (there aren't any REAL standards!) and simply serve your market.
Run your online business like Google doesn't even exist, and like there's no such thing as SEO. This is actually what Google wants you to do, and the type of activity they reward. The more natural your linking and marketing strategies, the better you'll do in the search results!
When in doubt about what to do, just ask yourself what makes the most sense, and what serves your market best - period.
If a certain Internet Marketing Strategy is only about "SEO" or "Google", and makes no real sense otherwise (or has you scratching your head), don't even do it.
* Studying Internet Marketing for too long can make you... dumb. LOL. 😛
Try this simple shift for awhile. Instead of working on a successful business and trying to figure out (and do) all the marketing & monetization strategies... simply shift to a perspective of "serving your market."
Ask yourself how you can best reach people with your information. How can you best help people in your market? How can you easily connect with merchants, bloggers and buyers in your market? How would you market your online business if Google didn't exist, or there was no such thing as SEO or Internet Marketing Strategies?
Try going at it from that angle for awhile, and see if the "how to" naturally falls into place. I promise you, you're smarter than you think. So clear the confusion and get back to focusing on what really matters in your business! 😉
Best,
p.s. I understand that online marketing IS confusing, and there's a lot to learn and a lot of information to wade through. I've been working online for more than 16 years now, so I've seen it all! If you need help getting back on track, or even getting started, I can spend an hour with you and get you moving in the right direction.
Better yet, join my Private Brainstorming Group and I can work hands-on with you for much longer - at a much lower rate. 😀
About Lynn Terry
Hi Lynn,
I think that this is brilliant advice about how to view Google.
I especially love these points:
"simply serve your market."
and...
"Run your online business like Google doesn't even exist, and like there's no such thing as SEO."
While it makes sense to not do anything that would actually harm your SEO, I think that it's a largely futile endeavour to obsess over SEO. If you're providing good, relevant, consistent content then this should be the stuff that matters.
I know that my mentor often says that he "doesn't do SEO", in fact he says that he just doesn't know anything about it. Yet he is VERY successful and has achieved this through something far more important than SEO - he has built a good reputation based on honesty and giving value.
SEO will always change and various strategies will come and go, but basic principles, value, ethics and customer service will always remain and it's these things that should be the point of focus rather than trying to do everything for Google.
Thanks for the awesome post 🙂
Regards,
Glenn
Well said, Glenn! 😉
Some great points here. I think that sometimes we tend to ditch all the businesses principles that we know/have learned offline because we think that it's all different on-line, which it isn't!
On-line or offline, it's all about finding out what your market wants and giving it to them. It's easy to complicate it though 😉
Isn't it? 😀
I really like the way you approach internet marketing Lynn. I fully support that we should serve the markets, provide what they really want instead of trying to reach something unclear. The easy way to do this is by focusing on what our best. Most people get burned out because trying to master all the social media platform whether focusing on one that is best performed. It's impossible to be excellent in everything but there must be something we are best at.
It's good to be best at YOUR business - your message, your product, etc - versus "Internet Marketing". This is what makes for a great business with serious long-term profit potential. 😉
I'm in a few Facebook groups for authors and book marketing. Many of the same questions come up regularly including, "What is the best way to sell more books/my books?". I usually try to say something along this line. Now I will just post the link :-).
In all seriousness, so many people are still under the impression that there's some way of marketing that will just catapult their sales. Generally, that's not true. You can have a good burst on occasion, but in general, it's what you say here-serve your market. You may or may not ever reach "guru" status, but you will have helped or made a difference and that's a much better goal in my opinion.
Nice article. But the writing doesn't seems to come from you Lynn. Is it written by a freelancer?
Nevertheless, it's still teaching us new things 🙂
LOL, no, I wrote that myself! 😀 haha
It didn't sound like me, hey??
Nice points to tackle here Lynn. In a business, we have to be cautious of what our customers want and give them the best service that they deserve to have.
Hi Lynn !
I feel that a person should not concentrate more on learning the marketing strategies because as the time passes by he'll/she'll definitely be equipped with the marketing strategies and knowledge on Marketing ...isn't it?
Not necessarily, Pramod. There *are* things to learn along the way. It's just a matter of knowing WHY you are doing it, and making sure it actually serves your market. You definitely want to learn, implement & improvise as you go... but not get caught up in tactics & strategies unless you have a very specific objective for them.
You said it right Lynn, following rules strictly will not give you the right answer always. You will have to come up with instant solutions for instant problems. Strategies do help but sometimes you need to think out of the box too.
Very true - I agree with you there! 😉
The problem with internet strategies is similar to that of weight loss diets; there are so many contrasting ones that have a proven track record. It is easy to get lost in it all. I like your comment on "How can you best help people in your market?" ...just wish I had the time to be more helpful. Thanks for a great article.
That's so true, Mark. In fact I often compare the two industries. The key is to just apply what makes the most sense for YOUR business. It's good to get a second opinion on "facts" too, so it's smart to have a mastermind group, or a community you trust, for feedback and resources. 😉