Should I learn Internet Marketing?

[Silverhawk851]

Sales is centric to entrepreneurship.
The fundamental of all business.
It's the only thing that matters.

Internet Marketing teaches you the skill to sell anywhere in the world,
To almost anyone,
whether they are next door,
or halfway across the world,
all while sitting at home in your pajamas eating a peanut butter sandwich
and sipping a starbucks coffee.

Not to mention.. at any point,
you can SCALE,
and instead of selling to 1 person,

you can immediately sell to 1 MILLION people,
(if you have the resources ofcourse )

But all very possible.

Tell me what other industry allows you to do that?

P.s Do not confuse Internet marketing with scammy b.s.
Create real value.

 

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[GuestUser113]

Ca$hvertising.

 

[Growth & Learn]

I do apply everything I learn. I've started a business while still being a full time student and won prizes for my business plan. You are pretty quick to judge. I am still not satisfied with the answers given. I know marketing is extremely important, but internet marketing is a whole other skill to learn, you can still have a marketing strategy and not know how to build links, create SEO, etc... But what I want to know is, WHY learn it YOURSELF, if you can hire a specialist that can do it for you, better and faster? why is it different from, for example, paying someone to do your company logo, or design your website? I am not saying it's not vital, I just want to know why doing it yourself is better than hiring an expert that has doing it for years.

Of course you're not satisfied with the answers….

Ok I'll give it one more go and then I'll let somebody else take over.

1. Unless you have external funding to pay a skilled marketer in the beginning, you'll need to learn how to sell and market your own products yourself. Most businesses can't pay a 6 figure salary to a CMO in year 1 so you'll most likely do it yourself for the first couple years. It's called bootstrapping.

2. One of the best and most efficient ways in the world to market and sell is using the internet. Because of the scaling possibilities the internet is one of the best ways to grow quickly an find lots of customers.

Therefore it's pays off to learn internet marketing skills so you can get a lot of customers, feedback, data, and iterate quickly.

Ex: I use to sell one of my products locally…we had probably 40 customers per year for this 1 product. Now,as a result of bringing it online and improved marketing skill we have 1,000 buyers per year for this product. I like 2,500% growth. How about you?

3. The better you are at sales and marketing the more money you'll make. You like money right?

 

[randomnumber314]

Yes i've read it... but i've read a million other books after that so I may have to reread it to refresh my memory. I'm still not convinced, why this particular skill needs to be learned instead of hiring an expert?

Stop reading, start doing. Internet marketing is a necessary strength for any successful business, as is any marketing.

 

[hughjasle]

what you consider a more important money making skill than marketing and selling one's products.

It all depends on what you are doing.

Full disclosure: I make a living with IM. I've helped a handful of guys learn IM who are also now making their full livings from IM.

But is it for everyone? Absolutely not. My brother in law is a dentist and looking for more clients all the time. He buys leads from guys who know IM and how to generate leads for dentists online. It doesn't make sense for him to put of his main money skill (being a dentist) to go out and learn how to generate leads online. His business works perfectly fine with a budget set aside to buy leads from those guys who know how to do it.

Now if you are asking about general money making skills for someone without a purpose yet, sure go ahead and learn IM, or copywritting, or code, or... those are all great skills to learn and can help out in any career. They just aren't absolutely needed if you already know that your end goal doesn't need it to be successful.

 

[Andrew C]

Sounds like all these intelligent posters are (patiently and nicely) telling you to stop "wondering whether or not to do something".

Sounds like they are telling you that, in the same amount of time it took you to put these thoughts together into a question, plus rebuttals, you could be taking these ACTION STEPS that actually produce the ANSWER to your question:

1. READ even the MOST BASIC internet marketing information,
2. USE the information you read to produce a measurable result,
3. READ the NEXT step of the internet marketing information, which is "What to do when ____ happens" (with "_____" being the results generated in step #2)
4. Execute your newly adjusted strategy your efforts based on what step#3 says
5. Repeat steps #3 + #4 because that is the way this process works.

The reality is that your question is framed as theoretical, yet it will actually answered by your experience.

The results of your efforts will lead you to ask better and better questions.

There are many forum members with more advanced knowledge to share, but you must go through this process FIRST so that you can develop a CONTEXT in which to APPLY their valuable knowledge.

Trust the process buddy.
Success to you.

 

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[randomnumber314]

I feel like there's a disconnect in the reality of people's experience (thus their advice) and the theory of your question--please correct me if I'm wrong.

Your first business or venture should start with you leading the way at every new job, you should get hands on experience doing all the things required to grow the business. Once you have sufficient revenue, then you can hire someone to market it. The question is, how will you train someone, specifically, to market your product if you have no experience doing so yourself? This is important because even someone with an MBA and marketing experience may not know exactly what your product's market and pitfalls are. Do you plan on wasting money training them to learn, when you yourself could have bootstrapped and only risked the advert dollars? With a hire you're paying them to risk your money.

I hope you get my point. In theory you hire experts who know things better than you, and they produce a better ROI than you could. I'd argue that you (or any leader) has to have some actual experience in that thing before you can properly assess an employee's skill in doing that thing. (this applies to small and start up companies. Big companies have grown passes this milestone.)

You asked for a book recommendation: Ready, Fire, Aim may be a good suggestion to get you to see the different phases of a company, and the mentality a leader needs to have in each phase.

 

[Andy Black]

^^^ This.

You can't outsource passion and insight.

 

[Andy Black]

This is why you should understand internet marketing, even if you outsource it:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/are-you-only-buying-traffic.52527/

 

[randomnumber314]

And if I want to learn it myself, where should I start? Any book recommendation?

Yes, you should start. You will learn by doing, by executing on a plan and risking real dollars. You won't learn much by reading a book, because marketing changes day-to-day month-to-month. What worked on Facebook a year ago (crappy clickbait) is now not profitable. So you have to start DOING in order to learn what works.

Outsourcing will teach you two things: 1. other people don't care about your company like you do, 2. you have to pay other people to learn the things you should be learning.

 

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[Andy Black]

But even if I dedicate a lot of time learning all the basics and applying them, I will never be as good as an expert who already has years of experience... Dedicating all this time to learn ONE skill, even if it's an important one, instead of working on other aspects of my business and hiring someone who can do all the basic SEO and link building and all this kind of stuff doesn't seem like the most effective way to scale my business.

And, correct me if Im wrong, but creating a marketing strategy (which is something I am already competent at it) and applying your marketing strategy on the internet, are two completely different skills to learn, so why not create the marketing strategy and paying someone to do all the internet stuff, which I am not very good at?

By the way I am sorry for the bad english, i hope you understand my point

@Samy Bazizi

It makes perfect sense to hire in an expert, and you probably should if you don't want to bleed at the start, and you want to get out of the gates at pace in the right direction.

And like anything, you want a good grounding to understand WHAT that expert is going to do, and WHY they are going to do it (so you can choose between them).

Sure, you don't need to know the mechanics of HOW they are going to do it. That makes sense.

However, if you go completely hands-off from the campaign management, you LOSE out on what is more important than the buying of the traffic, and that is the data that you get in your account.

For AdWords paid search for instance, you might find that whilst you sell blue widgets, everyone is searching for yellow widgets this year. An agency, freelancer, or even an employee managing your account might not spot this, might not realise it's significance if they do (since they don't know your business as well as you do), and might not care to tell you (since they certainly aren't as passionate about your business as you are).

I had a client years ago. They were a quarry and construction materials business. I bid on "precast concrete" and after a month I told them that 50% of all people coming through that keyword were looking for precast concrete fence posts. This is GOLD to a business, although in this case the client just stared at me and said "but we don't sell that". Sigh...

So learn enough to know WHAT can be done, and WHY it's good for you.

Be aware that much of what you will read will be technical how-to stuff, or written by technical people who do it day-in-day-out, but who DON'T RUN THEIR OWN BUSINESS (I'm thinking agency staff here).

If you're already adept at marketing, then maybe you just need to chat to someone who does it for a living and pick their brains. Maybe find someone local to you and offer them lunch to have a chat?

If you want more control over it and want to "learn" it, then there's no substitute for putting your hand in your pocket and buying traffic. Everything then comes into really sharp focus, and it'll beat any amount of reading and talking to people.

You can read a lot of the stuff I've linked to in my signature, but it will just be "nice posts" theory until you're actually spending your own money.

HTH

 

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[randomnumber314]

Looks like a really interesting book. Will read it for sure. Thanks!

Good, just don't use reading this or waiting to read this as a reason to delay taking action.

 

[Brentnal]

Try it, not for you? Try something else.

 

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[Andy Black]

^^^ YAASS!! was talking to a friend of mine about online business, marketing etc. He asked "Why? What's on the internet?"

The internet is just one big lead generation machine...

 

[Growth & Learn]

Not sure if I agree with this comparison... You can tell if he's worth the money by tasting these spareribs without knowing how to cook them. Same as hiring an IM expert, you can tell if he is good by the money you are making

Have you made any money with your new business yet or do you have a sizable customer base? If the answer is no then you should stop saying what you agree and don't agree with. Instead, start listening more and really dig into some of these answers.

I know I'm going to sound like an a-hole but please know I"m saying this to help you. There are some SUPER smart people who have replied to you. People who have 6, 7, and 8 figure businesses.

Saying you're not satisfied with the answers and you don't agree with what people are saying is counterproductive on your part. Just listen and learn. It's important that you do that at your very early stage. Think about what we are saying since 99% of the people who've responded to this post are further along the business journey than you are this point.

Based off the tone of some of your other responses you'll probably unnecessarily get offended by this post. That's ok though..everybody needs some tough love from time to time.

Everything is said with love. Now, go build a great business!

 

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[Growth & Learn]

Sales and marketing skills are incredibly important to have. It's one of the best ways to build wealth. Period.

Do you have something for sale or a website? Customers yet..or anything of value that you can provide to others?

 

[Silverhawk851]

Stop reading, start doing.

This.

 

[The Grind]

Asking this question.

Doesnt exactly make any sense. At all.

The answer: It depends. On what business you want to invest the next 10 years of your life to.

If your starting a boiler room. Then no, internet marketing would be abolutely useless and a waste of time.

 

[mws87]

Sales is centric to entrepreneurship.
The fundamental of all business.
It's the only thing that matters.

Internet Marketing teaches you the skill to sell anywhere in the world,
To almost anyone,
whether they are next door,
or halfway across the world,
all while sitting at home in your pajamas eating a peanut butter sandwich
and sipping a starbucks coffee.

Not to mention.. at any point,
you can SCALE,
and instead of selling to 1 person,

you can immediately sell to 1 MILLION people,
(if you have the resources ofcourse )

But all very possible.

Tell me what other industry allows you to do that?

P.s Do not confuse Internet marketing with scammy b.s.
Create real value.

^^^ YAASS!! I was talking to a friend of mine about online business, marketing etc. He asked "Why? What's on the internet?"

 

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[Andy Black]

You asked for a book recommendation: Ready, Fire, Aim may be a good suggestion to get you to see the different phases of a company, and the mentality a leader needs to have in each phase.

+1... great book and likely a great recommendation for OP.

OP... I summarised the first phase noted in that book here: www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/getting-started-ready-fire-aim-stage-1-0-1m.59444

 

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[Dwight Schrute]

I've never managed to make perfect spareribs.
But I tried, and learned the basics in the process.
Now, when I go to a restaurant and pay the cook to grill them for me,
I can tell if he's worth the money.

 

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[Samy Bazizi]

I've never managed to make perfect spareribs.
But I tried, and learned the basics in the process.
Now, when I go to a restaurant and pay the cook to grill them for me,
I can tell if he's worth the money.

Not sure if I agree with this comparison... You can tell if he's worth the money by tasting these spareribs without knowing how to cook them. Same as hiring an IM expert, you can tell if he is good by the money you are making

 

[Samy Bazizi]

Hi,

I've been thinking about learning internet marketing for a while, to be able to generate traffic, convert traffic, build links, etc etc... I know all these terms and how they are useful to generate revenues, but i've never learned how it really works. Is it something I should invest my time in, so when I have a good product to sell I will know all this stuff? Or I should simply hire some expert when I will need it?

 

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[Growth & Learn]

yes yes yes yes yes yes x 1,000,000.

Reread MFL so you understand why this fits into a scalable strategy.

 

[Growth & Learn]

But why learning this particular skill instead of an other? Can you refer me to the chapter that indicates this as a scalable strategy? Thanks

I don't have the book in front of me right now but the whole book talks about scaling and the mathematics of what elements of a business model can lead to larger wealth returns.

Have you read the book yet? Sounds like maybe you haven't?

 

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[The Grind]

I do apply everything I learn. I've started a business while still being a full time student and won prizes for my business plan. You are pretty quick to judge. I am still not satisfied with the answers given. I know marketing is extremely important, but internet marketing is a whole other skill to learn, you can still have a marketing strategy and not know how to build links, create SEO, etc... But what I want to know is, WHY learn it YOURSELF, if you can hire a specialist that can do it for you, better and faster? why is it different from, for example, paying someone to do your company logo, or design your website? I am not saying it's not vital, I just want to know why doing it yourself is better than hiring an expert that has doing it for years.

You can afford to pay 50k for a sales letter? Awesome, do it.

 

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[hughjasle]

I am still not satisfied with the answers given

I'll throw in a different view than everyone else for the sake of debate (at the risk of messing with the OP's head):

Don't do it.
It's probably not for you.
Not that you can't do it. Anyone who devotes themselves to it will learn it eventually.
What I really mean is, it sounds like IM is not your core money making skill that you want for yourself.

Sure nobody else will be more passionate about your biz, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself. How many people created their own factories for the sake of learning how to manufacture and manufacturing their own products because the other manufacturers just aren't as passionate about your product as you?

If what you are really wanting to do is create your own innovative products, then focus on that. You don't need to know how to code since race cars have computers in them if you want to be a race car driver. It's enough to just know how to best use that computer and in the race car and become a better driver

Knowing the basics of IM and how you can utilize those who are already doing it to your advantage is all you need to learn. Know how they make money and what they look for in products they sale would be sufficient for you possibly. That way you can spend more of your time on your money making skills.

Letting us in on what your end goal is will help us guide in you the areas you pick to learn.

 

[randomnumber314]

That way you can spend more of your time on your money making skills.

I'm curious to hear what you consider a more important money making skill than marketing and selling one's products.

 

[Samy Bazizi]

But even if I dedicate a lot of time learning all the basics and applying them, I will never be as good as an expert who already has years of experience... Dedicating all this time to learn ONE skill, even if it's an important one, instead of working on other aspects of my business and hiring someone who can do all the basic SEO and link building and all this kind of stuff doesn't seem like the most effective way to scale my business.

And, correct me if Im wrong, but creating a marketing strategy (which is something I am already competent at it) and applying your marketing strategy on the internet, are two completely different skills to learn, so why not create the marketing strategy and paying someone to do all the internet stuff, which I am not very good at?

By the way I am sorry for the bad english, i hope you understand my point

 

[marklov]

But even if I dedicate a lot of time learning all the basics and applying them, I will never be as good as an expert who already has years of experience... Dedicating all this time to learn ONE skill, even if it's an important one, instead of working on other aspects of my business and hiring someone who can do all the basic SEO and link building and all this kind of stuff doesn't seem like the most effective way to scale my business.

And, correct me if Im wrong, but creating a marketing strategy (which is something I am already competent at it) and applying your marketing strategy on the internet, are two completely different skills to learn, so why not create the marketing strategy and paying someone to do all the internet stuff, which I am not very good at?

By the way I am sorry for the bad english, i hope you understand my point

Have you been paying ANY attention?