Internet Marketing - It's A Marathon Not A Sprint...

So this week we’re back to the mistakes headline, and I’m going to share some of the things I’ve been through that mean I know how to spot a scam, and explain the hard lessons I’ve been through since I started looking at ways to use the internet as a cash machine.

Matrix Marketing

Way back in ~ 2002 when I was very green behind the ears I was daft enough to believe that “spillover” and “pre-launch” were the keys to my success. I mean if I was prepared to pay $19 per month then surely other people would do the same, and if they each tell 2 other people this time next year I’d be a gazillionaire.

Now I did manage to find people who were newer to the internet and just as daft, but I did learn the hard way that a fool can easily be parted from their money. I don’t know if this is still the case, but one of the companies I invested in called me up and sold me on a 4 figure coaching programme that would ensure I became their top affiliate.

This coaching turned out to be perhaps the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever bought – even worse that the millionaire march homestudy by Keith Wellman! This is perhaps a generalization, but I would say that the sole aim of these sites is to get people on a “suckers list” and grab as much cash as possible.

Key message, stay clear of anything where the main feature is a matrix.

Note if it is a true MLM company where a product is being sold and you get a share of anything the people you bring into the business sell then it can be a viable model, but just be careful if they cold call and offer you extra training.

Affiliate Marketing Is Easy

I mean I’ve bought this product, and all I’ve got to do is drive traffic to my affiliate link, and keep hitting refresh as the sales will be coming in thick and fast.

These products were all the rage a few years ago when you could find products in the clickbank market place and direct link via adwords paying $0.01 per click.

Then 2 things happened, the quality of clickbank products became very poor (refund rates of > 50%), and adwords policy changed.

Cue the rise of social media, and products telling you to set up review sites and how easy it is to get your affiliate links retweeted, liked, dugg, stumbled, or lately it’s all about being pinned.

Sadly the trouble with most products claiming to teach you affiliate marketing is that the person behind the site is relying on you to follow the steps and send traffic to their salespage and build up a list of customers who will be bombarded with similar hard sell offers for “magic bullet affiliate success”

What happens here is that a group of individuals with low morals will again target the newbie and try the hard sell tactics to extract as much cash as possible. For example the initial report requires some software developed by an ex KGB officer who knows the exact keywords to open Fort Knox, but for today only he’ll let you have access for $97.

Again, not all affiliate marketing products are out to rip you off, but you if you read a salespage and you don’t know what the product is going to teach you then it’s time to close the browser. Note if closing the browser gives you multiple pop-up discounts it confirms you’ve done the right thing.

List Building

So you’ve realised that matrix marketing is bad, and that affiliate marketing is just full of people who send you emails wanting you to buy more products on affiliate marketing, so you decide that success looks like a big mailing list.

Now the trouble is that so far all you have is a collection of affiliate links, so what do I need to start listbuilding?

The simple answer is an aweber account and a way of adding the code they give you onto the internet. It sounds so simple and sometimes I think I should have been a computer geek rather than a scientist.

So if you’re not really a technical person you need to spend time on youtube, learning basic skills like registering a domain, picking a hosting company, uploading files via ftp, editing html, creating download pages, and all sorts of other stuff that may make your head explode and lead you to quit.

Note: To help you I set up this gig at Fiverr where I can become your favorite geek, technical stuff should stop you.

==> For-$5-I-will-do-any-of-the-small-technical-tasks-that-are-holding-you-back-from-internet-marketing-success

Branding

The trouble here is that if no-one knows who you are, and the type of person you are, they why would they buy anything from you? Logically this makes perfect sense, when you’re out shopping on the main street and a chugger approaches you walk to the other side of the street, and if the phone rings with a with-held number at tea time you don’t answer in case it’s someone wanting to sell you switch energy supplier.

As humans the natural instinct is buy from people we know, like, and trust. So how can we achieve this online?

Simple, become part of a community, and make friends who share the same interest as you.

For example I’m taking part in John Thornhill’s one month mentoring programme, and so far the first week is all about setting up a blog such as this to share your ideas and thoughts on internet marketing.

He’s also set up a facebook group and encourages everyone to make friends and learn together. I’m pretty sure that later on I will be made to crate a product and possibly release it as a WSO. The support and commitment of following a proven course where I’ve seen so many success stories will be enough to get affiliates on board.

Lastly this relies on you having the courage to use your real name and personality in building up your own brand. In this age of social media and companies downsizing having your own website and being able to freelance is the best insurance policy you can have.

Investing In The Wrong Things

Did you notice how when I started out I was looking for magic bullets. It wasn’t until I actually stopped and listened to the advice on forums rather than posting affiliate links that I started to see some success.

Taking the time to learn html, wordpress, installing membership scripts, listbuilding, branding myself in Traffic Exchanges and Safelists, and blogging are all skills that mean I’m no longer a newbie marketer looking to quit.

In fact my passion is to help people getting started avoid all of the scams and build a long term asset. Like I’ve said I know what I need to do, and I need to visit the Nike school of marketing to “Just Do It”

Overall I guess what this final point tells you is that you should never quit. Sure you will have times when you hate your computer and no-one is buying the products you recommend, but if you have passion and a big idea then invest time and money into making it happen.

You must have some skill or service that other people want, so look at becoming a freelancer and get paid to work and have customers coming to you for recommendations rather than pushing products at someone you’ve never met before. Even better compile a list of common problems and sell the solution, this is the age of digital information after all.

Thanks for reading this far.

Andrew