Do You Walk The Walk And Talk The Talk?
Isn’t it amazing when you find some of those internet marketers that don’t practice what they preach? You hear them going on and on with what sounds like some good advice and then when you check them out they are not following that business model or the best practices they are praising. I have to step back some time to make sure I am not following this course. Do I walk the walk and talk the talk?
Here are some examples:
They say… Don’t send your list promotion after promotion.
They do… What else, promotion after promotion. And you don’t even have to bother opening their email after awhile, you know what is there. How about another promotion for their buddies new product.
People like to get good meaty content which you should do on a regular basis and from time to time throw in some promotions.
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They say… You should be blogging on a regular basis to build your brand.
They do… Not keep up with their blogging. Could they be to busy? Is this blogging a really good business model?
Blogging is a great platform for building that brand. by providing information that can show you as an expert and doing it in ways to bring out your personality. People are really appreciative of that and will not only follow you but buy your products and listen to your recommendations. This is a great place to sell affiliate products, give them honest product reviews and show that personal side of you.
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They say… Use article marketing to drive traffic to your site.
They do… No article marketing.
Now, some of them may do some article marketing under a pen name, but most may have moved on to easier and more lucrative forms of traffic generation. Most have probably established a good following and they don’t need to constantly write articles. But you must know that article marketing is not easy and there are a lot of nuances you need to know, like how your title is used to bring in readers and how to make that bio so people will want to click on your link. And also there other ways than article marketing to generate traffic.
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They say… Put Adsense on your sites and you will make some good money from it.
They do… Little, if any, Adsense on their sites. They are even using most of the space to advertise their own products, affiliate products and paid product ads.
In the real world Google is just not going to fill your pockets with that Adsense money until you have done a little search engine optimization, get some awesome long tail keywords and drive that necessary traffic.
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They say… You should do blah, blah, blah on your website.
They do… None of what they told you to do.
You may discover that you are reading or listening to someone’s words of wisdom and when you check to see if they have done it, you see they have not done it. So, if they are not doing it and they tell you to do it, it makes you wonder… Could they possibly be leading you off course? And are they out there preaching words they have not been doing? Can they technically do it? Are they out there trying to sell the latest and greatest but would never use it themselves? How then would you be feeling about that marketer?
Now, if they should happen to tell you to do something and they admit that it is something they also need to work on a bit more, then it is all okay. While I still have a ways to go this is a list that will hopefully keep me honest, how about you?
So, in conclusion, remember if you are going to preach, then preach what you practice. Also if you have others that are preaching to you, you get to listen to what they say and form your own judgement. Some of those marketers out there are preaching yesterday’s news. They may not know what works in today’s marketing. And always take into consideration that your circumstances may not fit everyone elses.
Definitely a good point. I preach blogging and regularly and think I do walk the walk.
This is so true. If you don’t do what you preach then how can anyone have trust in you as a marketer. There’s so much good information out there such as your blog that new and even experienced marketers can learn from. The unfotunate thing is that there’s also a lot of people just wanting to sell the next best thing without actually learning about internet marketing or the products they promote.
You’re keeping us honest – I like that
Would have to admit that I probably need to take a good hard look in the mirror. Now that you made me think about it I am probably guilty of some of this.
There are things that I know work, I have seen them work, but I get get a little overwhelmed when it comes around to doing them myself. Doesn’t actually mean they don’t work, but I think you are absolutely right and that a lot of people, myself included, need to practice more of what they preach (or maybe that should be the other way around and only preach what you practice).
Thanks for the rude awakening Andre.
I think
Thanks Luca, I have to remember this also so I can practice what I preach. I have a good support group and some excellent teachers to follow who are always willing to help.
Yes, you do Mike and I for one really appreciate what you say and I try to listen and learn. Thanks.
Well, I think part of the problem is that there is no right way to do many of these things. Although there may be some wrong ways. I also think a lot of “guru’s” are also feeling their way as they go. So while they may talk one established line, they may be experimenting with another.
I think you are right thought to caution that people consider who they follow and watch what they do, not just what they say.
For the most part I agree, Andre, except…
There is no one road to success, but many paths. Should your mentor only show you those he follows? Each of us is different, and while you love blogging, someone else may hate it and want to do article marketing – while a third loves to be in front of the camera and just focuses on using videos.
In our 3-hour Top Traffic Tips audio, Willie Crawford & I detailed 15 free ways to build traffic for free. No one has the time to do all 15, nor even 10 effectively. But by putting all 15 out there in an a la carte menu, people can choose which ones suit their current operations – a choice we should all keep in mind next time someone says there’s only ONE way to do anything.
Andre, some good points. The end result is that all of us have to identify the traffic methods that work for us and focus on those. Once we decide on the ones that we want we should definitely walk the walk.