Internet Marketing: Avoid "Blind Sheep" Mentality

If you want your online business to succeed, you have to give it
your own twist, not follow someone else like a blind sheep.
Despite what the Internet marketing gurus tell you, you will not
likely be lying on the beach any time soon just by following
their methods.

As with anything, there are those few (very few) who will leap
into the forefront with a new idea or a new angle on an old idea.
Then along come the rest of us, and like blind sheep, we follow
these gurus, expecting to reap exactly the same rewards. It
doesn't work that way.

First, we are no longer unique in the marketplace. The particular
guru we're following got there first.

Second, we aren't selling the same product or service as our
guru. Even if we're selling Internet marketing ideas, and so is
our guru, we still have our own unique perspective on it. I hope
we do, anyway. Otherwise, we're not going to have anything
worthwhile to offer. If we're just carbon copies, people might just as
well buy from our guru.

Third, we are never going to follow our guru's advice word-for-
word or step-by-step. You and I will do it differently even if
we've bought the same "Business in a Box." If you apply yourself
more than I do, you'll do better. If you buy advertising all over
the 'Net and I try to get along on a shoestring, you'll do
better. You'll claim the method works; I'll say it's bunk.

Or maybe I put my own twist on our "Business in a Box" and I make
a killing while you're left with modest results. Now I claim it
works, but you claim it's over-rated.

Are you getting the picture?

Making money on the Internet is not an exact science. It's more
of an art. There are some basic principles that you must apply,
but following every Internet guru around like a blind sheep will
likely bankrupt you before you figure out your own secrets to
Internet marketing. (Then you'll be the next guru!)

Here are seven basic principles to follow. If you accomplish these,
your success is guaranteed.

1. Find your niche market. We have lots of resources for finding your
niche market on our web site:
http://www.ablewebs.com/internet_marketing.htm#niche.

2. Make sure your niche market spends money on products or services
like yours. This is a very important piece of research. If your target
market doesn't have money to spend or doesn't spend money on that kind
of product, pick a different product to market!

3. Build a mailing list. How? Capture email addresses on your web
site, write an ezine, purchase opt-in subscribers.

4. Advertise. Where? Online classifieds, ezines, list services, print
media. Put your URL on everything you send out whether it's in paper
or digital format. Here are some ideas:
http://www.ablewebs.com/newsletter1.htm#tips

5. Track ad results carefully so you know what's working. Use a
spreadsheet, or purchase software designed for this purpose.

6. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. There are many theories around as
to how many contacts it takes before someone will buy from you, but
I've heard it's between five and nine.

Here's a true story to help you understand what I mean. Several months
ago I downloaded a trial copy of a software package called "Postmaster
Express" by Online Automation. Online Automation started emailing me
to see how I liked it. After the trial was over, they kept emailing
me...and emailing me. When I was finally in the market to make a
buying decision on an auto responder solution for my business and
guess who came to mind? Did I buy from them? Yes. They had been in my
face for months. They didn't give up...and they got the sale. This is
an important lesson.

Postmaster Express: http://www.post-master.net/rs/Andrea_Wilson

7. Have more than one product or service to offer so if one dries
up, you don't starve.

If you have only one product or service, think of other ways to
attract new customers: re-write stale sales copy, revamp your web
site, get creative with your advertising.

For instance, if you're a chiropractor, be creative in your
advertising. Target different segments of your market: today baby-
boomers, tomorrow seniors. Or start a new fashion: "New Moms: How to
Stay on Your Feet Longer and Enjoy it More."

How you accomplish each of these seven principles depends on who you
are, what you already know, what information you read, what you
have time and money to invest in, what appeals to you, and what
your skills are.

I'm a writer. I write a newsletter, Press Releases, articles, etc.,
but I'm not an expert at writing sales letters. That's a different
skill. While I'm learning, I can use the skills I already have to
market my services. Maybe it'll turn out that my particular services
sell better using my methods in the end and I never have to worry
about sales letters.

Besides, if every web site is turned into a one-page sales letter
because "that's what works," pretty soon everyone will be jaded
and stop reading them. If you do something different with your
web site, maybe you'll get the traffic. People come to the
Internet to find information. That's the reason sales letters on
web sites are often cleverly disguised as information. The price
-- even if it's free -- has to be buried way at the bottom so
the benefits of the product or service have really hooked the
visitor before they realize they're being sold. (There's a
little sales letter advice for you.)

Don't forget to look at your own interests and skills. Maybe you
love participating in forums frequented by people who'd benefit
from your product. It's easy for you to chat with them and they
grow to trust you. The next thing you know, they're buying from
you. Do you have to learn to write Press Releases? I don't think so.

If you or I do exactly what everyone else is doing, we'll be
blind sheep, using stale methods to sell stale ideas. Follow the
basic principles, get advice on ways to accomplish each one. Then
put your own twist on them and stand out from the flock.

About the Author
Andrea Wilson is a writer, web designer and author of the email
newsletter "From Niche to Rich!" You can email Andrea at
andrea@ablewebs.com. Subscribe to her newsletter at
http://www.ablewebs.com/newsletter.htm. Visit Andrea's web site
at http://www.ablewebs.com.