A great many online marketers are not successful because they fail to know just what their business really is. Some of them write ebooks and short reports so they think they are in the ebook information business. And others that are software creators or marketers both believe they are in the software business. Neither could be further from the truth.
Some people may try to run their business but do not have a clear idea of what exactly that business happens to be. They are unable to write an accurate business plan, write compelling sales copy or build a loyal following. That pretty much means they have no business at all.
Always remember no matter what your product might be, your only business is still MARKETING. You could have an online business or a retail store in a mall. Your business is MARKETING. If you want to be a successful marketer you have to develop a marketing mindset. Most of us are not born with it.
I say most because I will swear that some of the people I know are born marketers. But the rest of us learned how to think like a marketer and to make those business decisions marketers need to make. It can take a lot of time and effort but it can be learned.
To get this process going you must first develop a marketer’s mindset, rather than a ebook sellers mindset, for example. Those of you that have been selling products on eBay or your own website, you have probably been consumed by finding interested niches, driving traffic, testing ads for conversion rates and building a list.
Nothing wrong with that and as important as those tasks are, you will still find they are from the standpoint of a sellers mindset and while you might make some sales with that mindset, your business will not grow to new heights.
Now we want to develop a powerful marketing mindset, so what you have to do is learn to focus on the one question that will govern every step you take online. Take all of your business decisions and look at them through this question: “How will this action provide true benefits and create loyalty among my customers?” If you find it hard to answer that question, maybe you need to go back to the drawing board and re-think your plan of action.
What you will find is with all the planing, designing, researching and testing that goes into a successful marketing campaign, the customer is actually in charge of your business. All of your success depends on a sale of your products or services and that is 100% dependent on your customer and THEIR needs.
As you develop a successful mindset it will become clear what are the motivations that make your customers buy from you. You will come to understand their wants and needs before you start to produce products for them. There are a number of forums and if you are a participant you can check out the different categories and see what are the problems, wants and needs of the members. Then you can focus on providing a solutions for them. That will be a ready made, customer driven market for your specific answers and solutions provided as a short report, longer e-book or services.
Marketing has always been about selling products to a constantly changing market made up of an anonymous customer who made a purchase and disappeared. Then you had to create another giant sale to bring that anonymous customer back to the store or service to make another purchase. Even then the customers were still anonymous.
But now, with today’s marketplace, the worldwide Internet, has demanded a shift from anonymous marketing to building personal, nurturing and longterm relationships with customers and that demands exceptional, over-the-top customer service, to start with.
Your customers need to build a personal, trusting relationship with you or they will not even open your emails and eventually will just unsubscribe. Click…Gone!
There once was a time of an Internet of slick quickly built, simple web pages promoting products to an anonymous audience but it no longer exists. The new marketing principles are based on a social web, with people interacting directly with each other and mega businesses. You must be able to have open discussions and provide honest answers to become the driving force behind any online relationship.
You want to make sure that those relationships are dynamic, vital and dependent on the customer’s behavior, attitudes and interests. Now, that single customer in some small town, way out in the country somewhere, can reach out and grab the attention of a mega company on the other side of the planet and have an effect on their customer service or the products they provide.
Boy, I bet you never looked at it from that perspective? You might want to think about that!
October 29th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Excellent post. You’ve given me lots to think about. I’ve always believed that giving value and service to customers leads to long term relstionships and customers. As you say the days are gone when a simple website or sales page would do the selling. I like the new direction Internet Marketing is taking. There’s something to be said for being accountable to your customers needs.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Your very right. I know when I was first starting out online I was only really thinking of how many items I could sell… not thinking like it was a real marketing business.
We need to make sure we know where we are and where we want our business to be, and take action to get there.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
You are right on. Having a Business Mindset is very important. Too many approach their online business as a hobby. It just will not work. An online business is a business just like a main street business. And it must be treated like a business and it must be worked like a business.
October 30th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Very good post and couldn’t agree more.
I have had several people when asking me about what I do in my spare time, tell me that because I work on computers for a living, that I should be a natural.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth. You are absolutely right in that we are in the marketing business.
I know for me that it has been a very hard and difficult journey and it isn’t done yet!
While I have been making progress, I still have a lot to learn about MARKETING. It is tough and also so far out of my comfort zone that it’s not even funny, but I will not give up!
October 31st, 2009 at 5:20 am
I could not agree with you more. I too know this is something I enjoy and my journey is far from over.
October 31st, 2009 at 6:16 am
Definitely a shock for most people to begin to understand that marketing IS the primary thing they need to do.
The other problem is to change mind set and understand that not all work is equal and the marketing drives the whole business.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Great insight into the biz, Andre! To take it one step further, it’s important to realize that being a professional marketer can best be defined as being an effective solutions-provider.
A salesperson will sell anything they think they can make money from, whereas a marketer will either look to see who the product benefits and put it in front of them, or identify an existing need and find or create a solution to that need.
And you’re right about relationships – they’re necessary both to gauge those needs AND to build a track record as a person who provides quality solutions to people’s current needs.