Understanding Internet Marketing
Do you know the weirdest thing about most internet marketers? They
say they are internet marketers yet they know very little about what internet marketing is really all about or how to avoid the pitfalls!
If you take a close look at the current state of internet marketing you’ll see that in many ways it has sunk to an all-time low, with a huge number of marketers pressuring potential customers with hype and sensationalism, even lying and scamming just to make moey. They are like sharks in a feeding frenzy. This is one of the pitfalls to avoid when it comes to internet marketing.
Internet Marketing is NOT Selling
Just what is internet marketing? In simple terms it’s marketing on the internet. One has to understand marketing itself and then apply it online. Many people confuse marketing with selling. Marketing is NOT selling, although to be a good marketer you certainly need to understand the sales process.
Marketing is NOT about is aggravating your friends and relatives to buy your products or listen to you try to recruit them for your business opportunity
If you have to force other people to purchase your product, you aren’t marketing – you’re selling.
People don’t appreciate hard selling and this needs to be understood about internet marketing. Buyers like to explore and buy products and services at their own pace and not be won over against their will. Imagine receiving 30 calls from strangers every day trying to sell you stuff that you don’t need.
Marketing begins with understanding the needs, the problems or the desires of your potential customers – your target market. If you can fulfill their needs, resolve their problems or satisfy their desires with a product then you can potentially make a very lucrative income.
Effective Marketing Eliminates the Need for Selling
Effective marketing is a lot about psychology – showing people you understand their problem or need, gaining their trust and engaging them with the positive aspects of resolving their problem. If you succeed in tapping into the emotions of potential customers and captivating their attention with a product or service that provides a path to relief, then you have done a good job of marketing.
Quite often potential customer will want to know more or may even be eager to buy. Only then does the sales process (sales funnel) come into play.
Internet marketing is a form of promotion that is comparatively inexpensive when it comes to the cost of reaching the target market. Marketers can get to a broad audience on the internet for a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising and often for free.
Research and Planning
Internet marketing involves a lot of research and planning. You need to know what people are searching for and whether their needs are being met. You also need to look at trends and what is selling. Then you need to take a long look into what other marketers (your potential competition) are doing. Are they professional? Is there room for you or is the competition too established and dominant. Can you improve on what they are offering?
Too often, inexperienced marketers fail because they can’t compete with the big guys, just like supermarkets and department stores walk all over the traditional general store. However if your presentation is professional, your website is clean and uncluttered and addresses the issue that the visitor is looking for, it is only a matter of engaging the visitor with a genuine and compelling offer and you may very well make a sale.
Caring For Customers
Another aspect of internet marketing is what is traditionally known as after sales service. This is achieved by following up your sales with newsletters containing related news and stories, helpful information and friendly advice on the same topic and generally keeping your customers informed about new breakthroughs or updated products.
If you do this correctly without trying to hard-sell, your customers will trust you and buy from you again when you recommend related products.
When starting out in internet marketing, the key is to concentrate in a niche that you have a real interest in, providing there is sufficient scope for making a living. If there is no demand then there is no money to be made.
There are free analysis tools available online that can help you research, but if you have little or no experience in the processes of internet marketing then my advice is to hook up with someone experienced and honest who can help you and guide you through the necessary steps.
Where To Begin
It can be daunting if you don’t know where to begin, where to research, how to build a website, set up a marketing campaign and a sales funnel, how to build a subscriber base of happy customers and how to nurture them.
Like any career, there is a learning curve involved and you need the right education. There are many pushy salesmen out there masquerading as internet marketing experts. Your best chance of getting it right is to invest in a proper education. It will save you a lot of money, time and frustration.
The world needs more genuine internet marketers, so the opportunity is there for you if you take it seriously and treat it as a business. Ince you have set it all up, it can be working for you online while you are away on holidays or shopping with the family.
Get a Mentor
If you want to get it right the first time, then I highly recommend Chris Farrell as a mentor. He’s an excellent teacher with a genuine caring for fellow marketers and will show you the whole process of internet marketing – not only the methods but the philosophy and psychology behind it. You won’t find a better education online than “Chris Mentor Me” coaching.
