I Think My Head Is Going To Explode

Greetings loyal subscribers and thanks for taking the time to
read this week's newsletter. Hopefully, there is something here
for everyone, no matter who you are or what you do for a living.
My goal is not to flood your email with endless offers, but to
publish a newsletter that adds some value to your life and makes
you think more about what you do or would like to do.

Lately I have been receiving a lot of emails from folks with a
variety of ebooks and services who desperately want to get their
piece of the Internet pie. While the niches they serve are
different, I find most people taking the same approach to
launching their product or service: with little or no thought.

I still don't understand why the majority of people out there
think they can transform any half-baked idea into the next
million dollar maker. While it is true the Internet affords
virtually anyone with an idea the opportunity to sell it online,
that doesn't mean it is going to make a million dollars or even
sell more than one copy to your Mom.

There appears to be no sense of reality. If it were really that
easy, then we'd all be millionaires. Having been a millionaire
once, I can tell you it takes more than luck. True, it helps to
be in the right place at the right time, but you also need a
great product or service for a niche that is not yet being
served. You may have built a better mousetrap, but there's still
a lot of other people out there selling mousetraps. Getting heard
above the noise is a difficult thing. It takes planning, skills,
time, effort and money.

Another thing which gets my goat is how everyone seems to believe
they no longer have to pay for marketing. All they do is
Facebook and Tweet. Again, this is so wrong. If it were really
that easy to promote a business or product, then where are all
the millionaires? Any one who has ever experienced a real,
genuine level of success will you it takes more than tweeting
that you're sipping a mocha in the neighborhood cafe.

I'll give you a few examples about wrong thinking.

I spent some time with representatives from a local church who
wanted to know how to use social media to get more people to
their web site. They had been using Facebook and Twitter. I told
them you need to have something compelling to say before people
will start liking or re-tweeting your posts. I looked over their
past messages and they were b-o-r-i-in-g. Furthermore, if anyone
did visit their web site, they found a drab, unfriendly web site
-- which for a church is the kiss of death.

If you are going to try to generate traffic for a web site using
social media, you'd better be damn sure that the home page of the
web site you are sending them to puts your best foot forward and
is compelling visually and textually and also states the action
you want the visitor to take: subscribe, click, buy.

Another prospect approached me about reviewing their sales page
for their paid subscription newsletter. Their site design was
drab. Their home page copy merely described the author's past and
ongoing success in a few short paragraphs. And there was NO buy
or subscribe button at the bottom of the page. This approach is
simply not going to work.

Before you spend one dollar or one hour on marketing -- be it
social media or other forms of more traditional online or offline
marketing -- do some research about your niche and see who else
is serving it. If your product or service seems too familiar, too
similar to existing products and services in the niche, than it
is going to be challenging to generate revenue let alone be heard
above the competition's noise.

Do your homework. Do competitive analysis. Look at who is already
listed in Google's Top Ten for your niche. Use the keywords you
believe others would use to search for similar products and start
charting the features, advantages and benefits of your
competitors. Compare and contrast your own product or service.

Then make a go/no-go decision to either move forward with
marketing or look for a better idea. And remember, marketing
requires a plan, with tactics and timeline and a budget.

Not every idea deserves to go to market, no matter how
emotionally attached you may be to it. Sometimes you can save
yourself a lot of aggravation by simply turning your attentions
to a more worthy idea.

So think before you market.

Look both ways before you cross that virtual street.

And remember, social media is about building relationships, not
about selling crap.

More to follow,


All my best,

Steven

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