Online Marketing From Home

I have been spending a lot of time today contemplating why so many marketers fail to achieve success online and decided to share my views with you.

I really trust you will enjoy this post. Take your time to read it with an open mind and please share your own views.

The aim of this post is not to highlight why marketers quit but rather how marketers can succeed.

It is difficult to condense everything in one word, but, if I have to, that word will be ‘mindset’. I sincerely believe that without the right mindset you cannot achieve real and lasting success online. The important thing is that you can change your mindset. Let’s get started…

It has been said people don’t learn to swim from a textbook.
 
One of the things that I have been trying to understand is why people fail to take action. They join a mailing list but don’t even open the emails… They buy a book but don’t read it… They read a book but don’t put what they have learned into practice…

The best way to learn is by doing!

How does a child learn to speak? Yes, by repeating everything he hears. My son Remy will be turning three on the 11th of April and he talks nonstop. It is a natural learning process. His instinctively repeats words and will sometimes say the same sentence ten times in a row (driving me crazy), but that is how he learns.

Confucius once said:

“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand”   

This brings me to an interesting point, namely why do people not take action?

I believe there are several reasons. By identifying, acknowledging and understanding these reasons anyone can take the first step towards achieving greater success. 

1. Fear of making a mistake

Most of us were laughed at as children when we made mistakes. Chances are most of us laughed at the mistakes other children made.

However, nobody likes to be laughed at. Feeling ridiculous is not a happy feeling. As adults we often tend to remove ourselves from the scrutiny of others because it is the safe thing to do. We believe that the tallest trees get the most wind and try our best not to stand too tall.

As far as marketing is concerned, it often manifests itself as a fear of rejection. We don’t want to ask questions just in case we may end up sounding stupid and run the risk that other people will laugh at us. We do not want to write a book just in case the market hates it.  

You know what? Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. If you are not going to do something because you are afraid of making a mistake, you will never learn!

I sometimes wonder how many books have been written that will never help anyone because the author has filed it in file 13 on his or her hard drive… He or she is simply too afraid to release it thanks to a fear of rejection.

John Reese once said:

“The biggest piece of crap ever created and launched online makes more money than an almost-perfect project that was never launched”

I can guarantee you one thing… You will make mistakes! However, it is a natural part of learning. Remember that it is always better to try, and fail, than not to try at all!

Do not worry about what other people may say or think of your mistakes. Chances are they won’t even notice them. In any case, it is not like they never make any mistakes. 

2. Not believing…

You have to believe in yourself and in what you are doing!

Many people have problems getting out of a rut. They are disillusioned with their jobs and see online marketing as an alternative way of making money.

However, many of these online marketers end up hating internet marketing as well. Why? Simply because they are not doing something they really enjoy. They end up exchanging one boring unsatisfying job for another boring unsatisfying job!

Let me explain…  

They don’t do what is right for them. Their heart is not in it. They do not believe in themselves or in what they are doing!

As I mentioned in Niche Marketing Uncovered, it is not only a question of finding a niche market but also finding your own personal niche. Something you are interested in. Something you enjoy doing and something you believe in.

This is one of the reasons why I am against books that sell you a couple of ‘researched niche markets’. Let’s assume that ‘herbal tea’ is a great niche market…

Unless you enjoy drinking herbal tea and believe in the benefits of herbal tea you are not going to achieve a lot of success marketing herbal tea online, even if it is a highly profitable niche. In fact, chances are you are going to end up hating it. It is simply not the right niche for YOU!

The same can be said of the online marketing niche. There are many people trying to sell products on how to make money online but very few of them actually succeed. Why? Yes, they don’t really believe in what they are doing, and it shows!

They have been told that it is a great way of making money online but they are trying to sell something that they do not really believe in because it has not worked for them. 
 
I got a phone call some time ago from a person selling software on how you can forecast whether certain stocks are going to be moving up or down (trend analysis). He did not sound very convincing over the phone but I agreed to a meeting. Within less than five minutes I knew he did not have a clue what he was talking about.

When I asked him how much money he has made using this software he replied that he has not actually used the software himself and only joined the company one week ago. I politely told him that he cannot expect to sell me a software program on how to make money on the stock exchange that he is not even using himself…

It was clear from the beginning that he did not really believe in the product and therefore did not really believe in his own ability to sell the product. It is easy for people to pick up on these things!

By doing something that you are passionate about, or at the very least interested in, you will have a much bigger chance to succeed. Never do anything that you do not believe in. If you can’t even convince yourself you will have a hard time convincing others.      

3. Lack of focus
 
I believe that one of the main reasons marketers fail to make money online is a lack of focus. Two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. Many marketers actually try too hard. They try to do many different things at the same time. They try to go in all directions at the same time. The result is that nothing gets done well. 

I often refer to this as the ‘shotgun approach’ – Firing at everything that moves hoping to hit something. Occasionally these marketers actually end up hitting something but more by accident than anything else. In addition, such luck normally doesn’t last long…

You cannot build an online business hoping to get lucky. You need a razor-sharp focus.    

It is very easy to get distracted in internet marketing. Internet marketing is evolving all the time. What might have worked well last year may no longer be that effective this year.

The dilemma often faced by many marketers (including experienced ones) is how to keep up with new developments without losing focus. In other words, you need to be aware of new developments that can add value to your business while at the same time avoiding new developments that will only serve to distract you.

This is not always easy in internet marketing. It sometimes seems as if just about every new project launch is hailed as a ‘must have’. The trick is to avoid stopping and starting all the time. Many marketers end up doing nothing else than run around trying to find grass that is greener than their own pastures!

I have always maintained, and I still do, that there is no ‘best’ way to make money online. There are many ways. The fact that someone else may be doing well marketing on eBay does not mean you should stop what you are doing and start marketing on eBay as well. On the other hand, maybe marketing on eBay can benefit your business in which case it is worthwhile considering.

Try to always do one thing at a time and stay focused!

Thanks for reading!

To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit 

I am pleased to announce that Niche Marketing Uncovered is finally ready!

This is an interesting story! Let me give you the background…

I wrote a blog post back in December called “Niche Discovery And Successful Niche Marketing”. You see, I have some serious reservations about how some marketers are promoting the concept of niche marketing…

I know from my own personal experience that niche marketing is a great way to build a profitable online business. But, I also feel that many new marketers approach it from the wrong perspective.

My blog post attracted some interesting comments. It dawned on me that writing a simple blog post was good but not good enough. I had to explain “how” to do niche marketing and not only “what” to do!

Based on this I made the following commitment, in my blog, on the 15th of December:
  
“I am going to write a step-by-step report on exactly how I go about discovering and researching a new niche. This will not be a theoretical approach - I shall select a niche that I am not currently active in and reveal everything I do.”

Now I have to be honest… I originally intended on only writing a short report of between 10 and 20 pages. I expected that this report would not take me longer than a week or two to write, bearing in mind that December was quite a hectic month with Astrid being pregnant, Christmas shopping, family obligations, etc.

It simply didn’t turn out that way for a couple of reasons…

I read a great report by Patrick Pretty, called “My Secret Identity” about ‘daring to be different’. I decided to do something I have never done before… 

I decided to write an informative book and to spice it up a little by adding fictional characters and fictional circumstances. In short, I decided to combine fiction with non-fiction. (The characters mentioned in the book are purely fictional although the advice and information given about niche marketing is certainly non-fiction).

Furthermore, I decided to write a comprehensive report with many different examples and step-by-step guidelines.

I asked myself the following question:

“If someone (friend, relative or neighbor) would approach me for advice on how he or she can do online marketing from home, without any previous online marketing experience and with little or no money to invest, what practical and step-by-step advice would I give him or her?”

With the above in mind I set out writing Niche Marketing Uncovered. The end result? A detailed report of 96 pages totaling 27,860 words on how to build a real online business while working from the comfort of your own home!

To claim your copy, simply click on this link: Niche Marketing Uncovered

Looking forward to reading your comments!
 
To YOUR Online Marketing Success!

Francois du Toit

Niche discovery and niche marketing may be common concepts. However, it is clear that many marketers have a problem with the “niche discovery” concept and are totally confused by it.

Instead of just writing another “bla bla bla post” on niche marketing, I have decided to rather share some of my personal views with you…

You see, there are many books and reports available on the market about how you should go about finding hot niche markets. Most of them are more or less the same…

They give a step-by-step plan on how to find a good niche market but they often fail to address some very important underlying issues. It is a question of telling people what to do but not sharing enough information with them for them to really understand what they are doing.

Allow me to explain…   

What a lot of marketers are told is simply “Do keyword research and find a market with a lot of demand and few competitors”. What they then do is use a keyword research tool such as Wordtracker and start searching like crazy for competitive keywords, not really knowing what they looking for…

They post questions in forums asking things like “This phrase gets 100 searches a day and there are 100,000 competing sites. Is this good?”

People often focus so much on keyword research that they fail to understand the bigger picture…

First of all, you have to understand why people browse the internet. Forget about niche marketing and keyword research for a moment. Just think about why you or your friends and family browse the internet.

In my opinion, there are mainly three reasons.

People search the internet…

a. Looking for information (To solve a “problem”). Emphasis on INFORMATION. Some will be prepared to pay for it, others not (info may be readily available for free).

b. Looking to buy something – Book (Amazon), Music, Lingerie, Software, etc.

c. Looking for entertainment & companionship (lonely) – Games, chat rooms, dating, adult.

They key question is: “Are you dealing with buyers or browsers?” You want to target a market that is full of hungry buyers, not simply people fooling around online.

You need to understand your target market.

Finding a “good” keyword phrase with 1,000 searches per day and hardly any competitors does not mean you struck gold. A key phrase with 100 searches per day and 50,000 competitors may actually turn out a lot more profitable…  
 
You see, the problem with relying too much on a keyword research tool is simply that you may be getting all the cold, hard facts, but you are not given information on the people who are searching those keywords or key phrases. 

Fact of the matter is that the vast majority of people browsing the internet have no intention at all of spending money. This is obviously not something Wordtracker can report on. This is why you need to understand your target market.

Let me share an embarrassing story with you… I once “discovered” a great keyword phrase for a niche I was interested in. High search results, low competition. Sounded great. I spent quite a lot of time building a website, getting graphics, etc.

Eventually I found out that the great keyword phrase I discovered was actually not so great… It was the title of a popular song! Sure, I got some decent traffic but it was only once I found out who was searching for this keyword phrase that I realized my serious blunder…

I made the mistake of selecting a keyword phrase purely based on cold, hard facts. I did not take the time to understand my market. Big mistake!

A more common mistake is to optimize a web page for a specific keyword you have discovered just to find out that people searching that keyword are really browsers and not buyers. Yes, I know… Get them to opt-in for a special offer, send them seven emails… This seldom actually works if you get it wrong from the very beginning.

Tip: The apparent lack of Google Adwords for a specific keyword or keyword phrase is often a strong indication that you are not dealing with buyers.

Niche discovery is first and foremost about really understanding your target market. Who are they? Where do they go looking for information? What do they want? Are they prepared to pay for the right information? Who are your competitors? Are they giving the market what they want? Why would anyone buy from you instead of your competitors? What do you have to offer?   

This is one of the reasons why I always recommend that you should target a market that you have some knowledge of or are very interested in. Becoming an authority in a market that you do not understand or are not really interested in is very difficult.

By the same token, there is no point to focus on a market that you are an expert in but that has very little demand… 

Furthermore, it is also becoming more and more difficult to “discover” a virgin market. You are bound to have competition and even if you don’t you will soon get competition in the unlikely event that you have stumbled on a goldmine. 

Many marketers follow the easy route. They use Wordtracker for keyword research. Since many top keywords are flooded with competition they start using so-called “long-tail-keywords”. These are keywords with some demand and fewer competitors.

They put up a website, blog, squeeze page or Squidoo lens, write some articles to Ezine Articles, buy an ebook with Resell Rights or PLR’s, find some affiliate products on Clickbank to promote, set up a “bonus” and 7-part autoresponder series with Aweber and then forget about it…

Most of the times these marketers make very little money. Sure, they may make a sale here and there but nothing too serious. What these marketers are then told by the so-called “gurus” is that they should build hundreds of these sites! The reasoning is that if you can make $100 per month from one site that you will make $10,000 per month from 100 sites.

It sounds very logical, doesn’t it? It is certainly one way of doing niche marketing and I know a lot of people are earning a relatively good income building these sites.

However, this approach has some serious flaws…

First, of all, you will have to build a significant number of sites in order to earn a decent income. Secondly, it is very time consuming – You will have to spread yourself very thin and will never really be able to become an authority in your niche. Thirdly, and people like me really like this… It is so easy to displace these sites with my own sites.

You see, I don’t only look at the market, I also look at my competitors. Even if a small niche has already been flooded by 50,000 competing web pages, I know that most of those web pages are poorly optimized, give regurgitated information, sales pages are often poorly written, support is just about non-existent, etc.

Getting on the 1st page of Google is often easy. I build a quality website, do my research and bend backwards to deliver real value. 
        
The downside, you may point out, is that I cannot build & maintain hundreds of these sites at the same time. You are obviously correct. However, I make more money per site than most of the wishy-washy sites will. I make more money per customer by putting them in a sales funnel and getting a lot of repeat business. My sites rank better and are less vulnerable to competition.

By building quality sites I am also able to rank higher for more competitive keywords and do not simply have to rely on long-tail keywords with an uncertain future.

You have probably already heard me talk about the shotgun-approach – People firing in any direction hoping to hit something. I see a lot of people throwing websites in all directions hoping some of them will stick. What I have also noticed is that many of these websites that do initially “stick” quickly slide down once someone pours some cold water over them…

In case you are wondering, yes, I also use flimsy squeeze pages, etc. But, with totally different intentions. They are great for advertising and list-building purposes – Banner ads, PPC, ezine ads, etc. But, I do not use them to get organic traffic. They are simply too easy for competitors to displace.

Anyway, these are some of my thoughts on niche discovery and niche marketing. It is not possible to comprehensively cover this topic in a short blog post but I trust I was at least able to illustrate the need for looking beyond simple keyword research techniques.

Thanks for reading!

To your online marketing success!
Francois du Toit