I just had to jump over and put together this blog post IF ONLY to prevent myself from running out onto my deck and screaming at the top of my lungs…has the whole world gone MAD!
I had a member join us at InfoMarketer’sZone last evening, soon after I had him contact me and we put together a quick phone call.
In that call he spoke for nearly 20-minutes straight about his business idea to start an online business doing article marketing.
I waited patiently as he told me everything he had read, studied, and even paid to learn about effective article marketing online expecting that at some point in the conversation he would get around to tell me what exactly he was marketing and to whom.
Finally, at the 20-minute mark of our 30-minute call I jumped in to ask that simple question…
“What will you market and to whom through your article marketing?”
I thought he had dropped the phone, checking quickly to see if he was still there let me know he did in fact hear what I had to say.
The next couple of minutes were awkward to say the least.
He proceeded to share theoretical examples such as “Say I have an interest in dogs, I would then write 100 articles on dogs and maybe put up Adsense or market an affiliate product….”
You get the idea, there was no concrete business to speak of here, this was going to be a longer process than either of us thought.
THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IN ANY BUSINESS?
There is so much noise, hype, training and selling going on around internet marketing that the fundamental foundation of business building has all been forgotten except by a tiny segment of those that want to start their own online businesses.
Before you can put together a marketing approach for your online business, you first need to understand what your business really IS.
My approach to business (offline and online) has always been as follows:
1. Decide on a market to serve (based on combination of your interests,experience, passion, strengths and opportunity)
2. Find a desire or need within that market (this can happen before, at the same time or after #1)
3. Match that desire/need with a compelling product or service
4. Determine the best (meaning largest scale, most profitable way) to reach your market
So, when I see people talking 90% about a way to market online (article marketing for example) without really having decided what their business IS – it makes me want to ______ (insert expletive here). Not because I blame the person making this mistake, but because so much misinformation exists that leads people to believe that a certain technique or tactic for marketing IS a business.
AN EXAMPLE TO USE…
When I first started my online business I knew that one of my strengths was understanding desire/need within a marketplace and matching that with a simplified, step-by-step breakdown where only complexity and complication existed before.
I also realize there were a few markets where I had a real interest, had some experience, even had good contacts offline and online I could leverage to help tweak my ideas, give me testimonials, try my products, and then promote them for me – one even contributed to an early product filling in gaps in my expertise.
The next step was to drill into that marketplace and make sure I put my finger on one of the top desires people had, understood clearly the emotional triggers behind that desire AND know what frustrations they had with existing products so I could fill in the gap with my offering.
These are critical steps that ANY successful business person takes to start and grow their profitable online business…most do not take these steps and they do NOT run successful businesses as a result.
So, if you are mesmerized by the latest business opportunity, internet marketing guru or online marketing technique or tool…go ahead and “park” those thoughts for the time being.
Now, spend the next few days digging into markets, understanding where there is a need and desire that aligns with a market that you want to operate in, get to know WHY that market will buy online and then figure out how you can offer them what they want in a slightly different (better)Â way than your competition.
When you have that done, THEN you can begin to think about the best way to market to that audience…SEO, video, blogging, affiliate marketing, paid advertising, etc…and it will be much simpler and more effective when you know exactly what you are marketing and to whom for what reason.
In other words, figure out what you are selling, to whom and why…these are the foundational questions that underlie every successful business in the world!
YOUR TURN…
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