Internet Marketing Trouble? You Might Need A Kick In The Butt!

I read a blog post recently from a well-known marketer and one of the comments was from someone who shall remain nameless.

That person started a list of what new people need, and it included something that…

  • automatically puts the correct keywords in a web page with the right density
  • automatically submits all pages to the right search engines
  • automatically creates lots of backlinks
  • automatically submits videos so you can get traffic, etc., etc.

My first thought was, “Oh, and what will YOU do, just go cash the checks that come rolling in?”

My second thought isn’t fit for publication.

Hey, I’m a big believer in tools and automation; developing stuff like that is how I make my living. But reading that comment I got the impression that person had NEVER done any of that stuff before. They weren’t looking for a way to cut down the time spent on their business, they were looking for magic beans.

Should people use tools that help streamline a process? Oh, heck yeah! But not until you freaking know what the actual process is! Not until you can do the process by hand. Until then you’re basing everything on theory and not practice. You don’t have a core understanding of what’s really going on.

My kids are homeschooled and we don’t follow a specific curriculum — we’re very eclectic in our approach and don’t usually use actual school books. But I just went by the “school store” today and bought a couple workbooks for the kids to work through over the next couple months.

One of them is math. Word problems. Oh, most people hate those. But here’s how we’re working them.

After the first page or two I don’t care if they give me the answer to the problem — all I want is the correct problem broken down into an equation. For example…

“Patty’s new car can go 135 mph. If she drives two and a half hours at an average speed of 64 mph, how far will she drive?”

A correct answer as far as I’m concerned is: 2.5 X 64 =

If the kids want to give me the answer to that equation that’s fine, but after I know they have the ability to do that, all I want is the actual problem. Because that’s the point of a word problem — to be able to figure out what is needed to get the answer.

I’m okay with shortcuts — as long as the person knows how to get there using the long way.

But over and over again I see “internet marketers” who don’t have an understanding of the basics of the business and think they should be able to jump right to the head of the line.

Sidebar: If you’re getting into internet marketing by starting a company and throwing a bunch of money at the problem, I’m not talking about you. This is directed at those of us who are bootstrapping our way into the business, working on it evenings and weekends while we hold down a (for now) day job.

How Long Should It Take?

Another commenter on that same blog mentioned he’s frustrated because after 8 months he still doesn’t know how to make his web site.

Eight months? Okay, there are two options for that guy that make sense:

1. Stop banging your head against the wall and give up. Dancing with the Stars is starting in a minute, why don’t you go settle down in front of that and give it your focus.

Or…

2. Stop looking for a stinking shortcut and get to WORK.

There’s absolutely no way a typical person can’t get decent at making web sites in just a few weeks — if you stop hopping around and poking at every shiny thing out there. HTML isn’t even close to being rocket science. You can find free tutorials on the web or run down to any bookstore and buy a book on how to make a web page with HTML.

And then start working through it. As nice as it would be to gain the knowledge through osmosis, just buying the book won’t do anything for you. Now you *must* make the time to start going through the book — and actually doing the examples, etc.

Most people could go through a book like that in a month or less, even if they have a job, family, etc. And once that’s done you have a solid foundation for the rest of your online life.

If you still can’t put together an opt-in page, a down load page, etc., why don’t you do that? Maybe you’re too lazy? (Note: That fits for 99% of the cases. Maybe you’re the exception.)

If you’re not willing to put in some WORK then please stop telling people you’re an internet marketer and are building an online business. TANSTAAFL – There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. If you want to reap, you’d better be prepared to sow.

“But There’s Just So Much To Do”

I’ll give you that one — kind of. There are a billion and a half things you CAN do, but not that many that you really must do.

  1. You need a product to promote (either one you’ve created or as an affiliate)
  2. You need a way to promote the product (typically a website)
  3. You need to get traffic to that website

That’s it, you don’t NEED anything else. Yes, you should be building a list. Yes, you should tweak and test your website to make it convert better. Yes you should be doing everything else.

Later. Not now.

If you don’t have those three things SOLID, then stop flailing around at everything else and just DO THOSE THREE THINGS until you have those things firmed up.

Each of those steps will be the subject of an upcoming article and we’ll go in depth on each.

Hey, there’s no way I’d suggest I have all the answers, but I have some of them and I don’t mind telling on myself when I’ve made bonehead moves — there’s no sense in you falling into the potholes if I can steer you around them.

Internet marketing, and business in general, isn’t a “one size fits all” endeavor, but there are certain foundational aspects that will serve you well into the future. At the same time, if you don’t have that foundation, anything you build is not going to be stable enough to keep growing and making more money.

Have you decided to stop darting off in every direction at once and work on building a real business? If you’re not willing to do that, do yourself and your family/friends a favor — stop poking at this internet marketing and free up your time for other things that everyone will enjoy more than watching your blood pressure spike.


What do you think, am I being too harsh? Do I not remember what it’s like to be a newbie? Or does this make sense?

16 Comments on “Internet Marketing Trouble? You Might Need A Kick In The Butt!”

  1. Jay,
    As someone who has been distracted by all the shiny coins for a couple of years, I have finally realized that I needed to get down to “blocking and tackling”. And that is what I’m doing. I’m certainly not very good yet, but I’m learning everyday. From HTML to Aweber to opt-in pages to WordPress to Niche and Keyword research I’m working on everything I need to know in an organized, planned, well thought out manner.
    You aren’t being too harsh as far as I’m concerned. I wish I had someone steer me in the right direction years ago. It would have saved me lots of time and lots and lots of money.

  2. You’ve hit the nail on the old proverbial head Jay. The only way this game works for me is to do things in a serial way…not parallel. I find if I block out segments of time to work on only one thing, I get that one thing done. My segments are 50 minutes each, then I take a 10 minute break, return for another 50 minutes, etc. I turn off email and let phone calls go into voice-mail. The hardest part for me is to not get lured into following the latest launch. I’m learning to look at them in my ‘down time’ mostly to learn how they are doing the launch, not to get lured into ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’.

  3. I totally agree, it is with anything in life; it take work. I am grinding out on the small stuff now and learning as much as I can. The fact that I can’t afford shiny things makes that easy. Even with the next gurus product launches, if you don’t know the basics it won’t do you any good. You’ll still be frustrated and a few dollars poorer. Great post Jay!

  4. Always spot on, Jay. Great points. It’s no wonder you have been around this racetrack for so long. Keep it coming – common sense in a $1,997-Limited-Time-Launch world.

  5. Awesome post, Jay!
    People who read and work on this will save themselves literal YEARS of wheel-spinning-no-money-coming-in-too much -going-out wasted time and utterly useless effort. And I like your approach to educating your kids too! You guys rock! The world needs more folks like you in it. Thanks for being in mine.

  6. The comments of Janie, Barry, Terrance, Mike and Barbara are spot on. More to the point, you’ve hit on a topic that the IM world and those wanting to play in it, know in their heart of hearts.

    I’ve watched, read, and listended to a lot of stuff thhat’s be sold online for a long time, and I must say my preception of is some IM’ers know that those who aren’t working to a plan and staying focused, will buy the shinney objects, everytime it arrives in their inbox.

    You’re bang on with your post, Jay… I’ve been a customer of yours for a long time and there’s very few of you, who really tell it how it is.

    I can’t remember a high profile internet marketer saying to his or her list. “Make sure before you buy this product, that it’s inline with what you want, where you’re heading and doesn’t distract you. If it does, DON’T BUY IT!”

    That’s something really bold to say… and I know most, won’t say such a thing because my feeling is they are trying to fleece as much as they can while the sun is shineing.

    I for one was caught up in the shinney object craze, and took a brutal step of unsubscribing from a lot of lists and only kept a few. That was purely to keep an eye on trends and where things are going. It was the best thing I did.

    For the beginner in this world, it’s hard to know who dump and who to keep, as they can be very convincing. That’s the power of great copy. So as you eluded to in your post Jay and you’re absolutely right, product, website and traffic. If you haven’t got those three things, find another opportunity.

    Well done on this post… it’s real and it takes the false image off internet marketing and brings it back to basics. As you sow, so shall you reap.

  7. Jay,
    What a great post. I think this might be the best post from you ever.

    I want to second what John said about marketers:

    I can’t remember a high profile internet marketer saying to his or her list. “Make sure before you buy this product, that it’s inline with what you want, where you’re heading and doesn’t distract you. If it does, DON’T BUY IT!”

  8. Jay
    Perhaps you should have been harsh!That was a refreshing post & so so true.I once had a guy say he would join me if he would make $1m in 6 months.I of course asked him to let me join him if he ever found it but the sad thing was he was deadly serious.

    Look forward to the next great post.

    Brian

  9. Well Jay – You’ve done it again. You’ve succeeded in making me uncomfortable. Perhaps you’re reading my (e)mail, or perhaps there are others out there like me. Whichever is the case, you’ve given me a wake-up call. Thanks!

    1. Ha! You know, most of the things I write are actually written AT ME, I just switch things around to make it look like I’m okay and you need the work. =;)

      But we all suffer from that stuff at times. Right now I’m sitting on an iPhone programming book hoping I’ll absorb the material — been doing that since last fall, so I suspect it’s about time to open it and start READING it.

      Jay

  10. Harsh? Not hardly. Nothing like the reality folks will face if they miss the truths in this post. I’ve been telling people much the same thing for some time.

    “Have you decided to stop darting off in every direction at once and work on building a real business?” That’s the problem. They fail to look at this as a *business*. How many of them, if starting an *off-line* business, would fail to 1) do their due diligence in the field, 2) educate themselves in basic business principles, or 3) get their hands dirty with the nuts and bolts of their business (or hire people with competence)? Yet they fail to do the same in this industry.

    Wake up!

    (BTW, do you mind if I post this to my site (with attribution)? It would be so much easier to just point the whiners to that.)

    1. Don, yes, you can use that post on your site if you include my name as the author and give a link back to this site.

      Thanks!

      Jay

  11. Okay, Jay!

    You’ve got it about 90% right. This coming from someone who likes the shiny things too…and cash broke with a Rolls in the garage. Seriously stupid. Knowing and doing are 2 different things.

    99% of the people are NOT lazy. They just don’t LIKE the work they think they “have” to do. If you don’t really LIKE and enjoy what you’re doing, you won’t be good at it…that results in no sales = no money.

    HUMAN CAPITAL = Success! Nobody has ever done anything GREAT alone. Nobody. Partnering with robots and automation isn’t going to work. People working together, each doing what they like because they are GOOD at what they like, even better than if YOU did it yourself. That works but only if there trust. That’s the problem most people cannot get past.

    Trusting people by the time you’re 25 is difficult because of the past –yes, 25 and 45 years old…they trust nobody! I made that up so it might not be true but it sure seems like it.

    Trusting and listening to the wrong people. Hoping and dreaming is what all newbies do…then one day you find Jay! It’s time to wake up and listen and spend the time because all that hoping and dreaming wasn’t for nothing after all!!

  12. Great post Jay!
    This reminds me of a blog post I just wrote today, about the problem that internet marketing beginners face, the problem of not knowing the basics.

    Without the basics it’s hard to know where everything is going and what to do next.

  13. Hi Jay,
    One of the (many) things I like about you is the way you hold up a mirror!
    There I am (at least, there I was until recently), darting about from shiny toy to shiny toy, avoiding the real work.
    Thanks to you and others like you, I’m now a lot more focused. Decided I’m an affiliate, built the sites, and now concentrating on traffic.
    I look forward to telling you that I took your sermon to heart, and have achieved the results I’m looking forward.
    Please keep the lessons coming!

  14. Jay,As someone who has been distracted by all the shiny coins for a couple of years, I have finally realized that I needed to get down to “blocking and tackling”. And that is what I’m doing. I’m certainly not very good yet, but I’m learning everyday. From HTML to Aweber to opt-in pages to WordPress to Niche and Keyword research I’m working on everything I need to know in an organized, planned, well thought out manner.You aren’t being too harsh as far as I’m concerned. I wish I had someone steer me in the right direction years ago. It would have saved me lots of time and lots and lots of money.
    +1

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *