The Internet is a great place to do business, whether you’re a retailer selling a particular line of products or a service provider making your living on the Internet. There is, however, one age-old problem with the business that never seems to go away: people won’t buy what they don’t know about.
This is where Internet marketing comes in.
Internet marketing involves using various tools and services to let your business reach a wider potential customer base. Good Internet marketing will bring in a significant number of clients, keep them interested, and make them more than happy to purchase more of your products.
However, a not-so-good Internet marketing program will be a complete waste of time and money. In the worst-case scenario, you could even do more harm than good to your business if the marketing strategy is poorly thought out.
Strangely enough, most people fail in their Internet marketing strategies not because they lack the knowledge or technical capabilities to use Internet Marketing well. SEO, HTML, opt-in lists, landing pages – all will not matter if the would-be marketer does not know how to succeed with the tools at their disposal.
Let me be clear: this article is not a technical manual on the finer points of Internet marketing. No tutorials, no tests, no benchmarks. This article aims to supplement your technological know-how and give you an idea of what to do with your skill and knowledge. It will allow you to channel your efforts and create far-reaching plans.
In short, this article will teach you how to be successful in your first year in Internet marketing. The Mindset of a Successful Internet Marketer, A successful marketer needs a vision to succeed. No, I am not talking about some grand, messianic vision or something. I am talking about an idea that will define where all the Internet marketing efforts will go to.
This vision will allow you to focus your efforts on something more productive and will allow you to succeed in Internet marketing truly. But before you can define your dream, you must first assume the mindset of a successful marketer. This mindset is, in turn, composed of different frames of thought. Here are some of the more important ones:
Honest and Sincere
The first thing I must tell you is that no truly successful Internet marketer is a sham and a fraud. The stereotype of the Internet marketer that sidelines as a ruthless vulture and snake-oil salesman is an image that is, sadly, more commonly adopted than I would like. But let me tell you that being a successful Internet marketer means being successful in the long run – and you cannot succeed if you start your career as a fraudster.
The rewards from fraudulent sales or deceptive marketing strategies are immediate and attractive, but you cannot build a marketing empire with foundations laid on lies and deceptions. An Internet marketer with a name built upon reliable business and customer satisfaction will yield more rewards in the long run than an anonymous ghost who has to change terms now and then lest they face criminal charges.
Willing to Experiment
One of the marks of a successful Internet marketer is the willingness to try things out. Many would-be marketers spend months (even years) studying how to use Internet marketing effectively. This is all well and good, but it will be for nothing if you are not willing to put your skills out on the open market, where they will be tested under pressure. The truth is that there is no absolute recipe for success as an Internet marketer.
You have to grit your teeth and dive into the whole mess. You learn faster and will discover what works and what does not in your particular line of work. Your mistakes cannot be considered failures if you learn from them and use them to better yourself.
Reflects and Learn From Mistakes
Just because an experiment fails does not mean you should just up and forget it. The whole point of experimenting is to find out what works and what does not. If something you just implemented does not work, like a weak landing page or faulty search engine optimization, you have to trace where the mistake stemmed from.
This is why you must reflect upon any problems you encounter in your Internet marketing campaign. How did it go wrong, how can I fix it, and how can I improve? These four questions are staples for reflecting on and learning from any mistakes.
Seeks Excellence in All That Needs to Be Done
Good enough is a far cry from very good, even though both are “good”. Excellence is when you give your best in everything you do. This Excellence is not optional if you want to be a successful Internet marketer. You don’t cut corners, you don’t do a sloppy job, and you don’t say, “This is good enough.” Excellence is basically about ensuring you do as good a job as possible. This pursuit of Excellence will always drive you to find better and better ways of doing things, greatly increasing productivity and efficiency. Your customers will immediately recognize this Excellence and be more willing to check out your offer.
Sets Competitive Standards to Meet
There is another reason you need to seek Excellence – the best and most threatening of your competitors also do the same. You must always understand what your competitors are up to. You have to know what they offer, how they do things, how they market themselves, and even how successful they are. If Excellence pushes you further in marketing efforts, your competition will define the bare minimum you must work with.
This is especially useful when you are new to Internet marketing. Your competitors will most likely have been around for quite a long time already and will have spent significant time and money to get where they are now. All you need to do is analyze how they do things, and you will be able to benefit the most from your competitor’s existing practices.
