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7 Greatest Misconceptions About
Internet Marketing By James Martell Over the years I’ve interacted with many in this industry who have tended to perpetuate certain misconceptions, in my opinion, because of the natural tendency to see things from “within their own box”. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase “thinking outside the box”. Well, what I’ve noticed over the years from conversations and written communication with students and industry people is that when it comes to this exciting, diverse and progressive new form of marketing, known loosely as “Internet Marketing”, there are certain themes to their misconceptions. So, since I have a track record of continued success online dating back to 1999, with both my affiliate business and my training business, I felt uniquely suited to offer my “take” on what I believe are the 7 greatest myths or misconceptions about “Internet Marketing”. #1 - You Have To Be A Techie Yes, it’s the number one myth I encounter from relatives, friends and prospective students. Oh, I could never do that. I’m no techie. I remember that in the early days I thought this myself. I was terrified that I was doing it wrong. I panicked whenever my computer behaved improperly, as in “where did it go? It was right on my screen, now it’s disappeared!!@#???” Heck, I can remember those agonizing calls to customer support for my Internet Service Provider. And these guys, who were simply reading off their screens, seemed to rejoice in their superiority as they “fixed” the problem for me. What nonsense! Although I’ll agree that back in the late 90’s it was a little confusing, but not now in 2009. Things have improved greatly and almost everyone is on the Internet these days. I mean all of my kids know how to navigate the Web and use a variety of Internet applications. And my youngest is 13. And their keyboard skills put me to shame. So don’t fall for this “I’m no techie myth”. The fact is that I’m no techie. And you don’t have to be one either. #2 - Paid Search Is The Only Way To Get Traffic Oh yes, affiliate managers in recent years have been touting this myth to the hilt. And no wonder. Why wouldn’t they? Merchants are mainly focused on traffic. And affiliate managers depend on traffic from their affiliates for their survival. So if they can get you to take out your checkbook and buy traffic for them, why wouldn’t they encourage this? The truth is that you can either buy traffic through paid search, online display ads or even take out a print ad in your local newspaper for that matter. Or, you can learn how to properly organize your site so that a high percentage of its pages get listed in the top 10 at Google or any other major search engine. I’ve been primarily doing this for years and continue to do so. And although I recognize that the Google Jagger update of 2005 changed the rules of the game drastically, I saw no real need to abandon the “natural search” approach entirely as some have done in favor of the “paid search” model. Now, I’ll concede, if you have the budget, paid advertising can truly be amazing, but hold your horses before going full tilt with this. Regrettably I’ve seen some blow $5000 in a weekend with little to show for it. The fact is that you can do both. But if you can get free traffic, why not do this first? #3 - The Internet Boom Is Over Over the years many have looked to the Internet to solve financial problems. It never ceases to amaze me that I still get questions at my support desk from people wondering if there is still money to be made online. Frankly this type of question only reveals a high level of self-doubt on the part of the questioner. I say this because the Internet is now everywhere. CNN anchors routinely blog with viewers. Almost every company these days has a website. Broadband is the norm. Google is a household name. A major daily stopped printing their newspaper after 146 years in business in favor of a lower cost/higher profit online version. And an upstart senator from Chicago raised more money online than any of his competitors who relied mainly on traditional fundraising dinners for fat cats with deep pockets. (none will make that mistake next time) No my friend, the Internet has barely begun. #4 - Sending Email Spam Is What Internet Marketing Is Sadly, those with little understanding of marketing – either online or offline – view email as a viable way to sell online. And nothing could be further from the truth if we are talking about customer acquisition. You simply cannot expect to succeed buying a list and spamming people with your offer. Not only is it illegal but it’s dumb. This is a myth that got going in the early days when the Internet was new and people didn’t know better. People hate spam. And my number 1# rule of marketing is don’t do anything to p*ss off your customers. It’s crazy how few seem to know this. Now, this is not to say that email doesn’t have its rightful place. In fact, as a customer retention tool it is magnificent. Just don’t use it to acquire customers. And if this subject interests you might want to check out the article in this issue entitled, Is There A Right Way And A Wrong Way To Do Email Marketing? #5 - If It’s Marketed Online It’s A Pack Of Lies This is a funny one. Now I’ll admit it takes a pretty jaded person to fall for this one. But it’s out there. I often encounter comments from people who have formed a bias against the “Internet” as a source of credible information. “Where did you hear that,” they’ll say, “on the Internet”? As if it must be B.S. if found online. But of course, these very same people will instantly believe anything read in a newspaper or viewed on TV. #6 - If There's Money To Be Made – It Must Be Illegal Hopefully the Obama story demolishes this one. But it amazes me that even at this late stage some people view income made online as tainted – as if it must be illegal. For many, even PayPal is thought of as shady. All I can do is roll my eyes at this one. #7 - SEO Is Complicated For those not familiar with the term, SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Personally, I’ve never referred to what I do as SEO, but that’s what it is. Since 1999, as a self taught Internet entrepreneur, I’ve been optimizing my sites so that I’d get high traffic at the search engines. And, trust me, it’s not rocket science. Now, -- for all those with SEO consulting businesses and fancy degrees to give people the impression that only an “SEO expert” can get their sites listed high at the engines, -- I say good luck. Maybe you know something that I don’t know. All I can say is that notwithstanding a few downturns, I have over the years done extremely well getting tons of free traffic for any site I chose to focus on. And I never got a college degree or took a course on SEO. All the best,
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