If you conduct a search using your favorite search engine you’ll probably find a thousand different definitions for Internet marketing online today. However, putting it in its simplest terms Internet marketing is: “The process of selling your products or services on the Internet.”
Of course there are many different categories of this type of advertising on the web however, our definition we’ll do just fine for the objective of this article which is, as the title states, to point out, what are in my opinion, the top 5 blunders made by marketers on the Internet today.
Narrowing the field down to 5 may be a problem because there are numerous cases or situations where people making a living online have made significant errors in some aspect of the marketing process and I include myself in this group as well. So without further ado here are the top 5 faux paux’s committed by Internet entrepreneurs beginning with number 5 and counting backward to number 1, thereby following the David Letterman format for list reveals:
Mistake number 5: “Trying to satisfy everyone by trying to sell to everyone.” It’s impossible to market to the entire Internet marketing target for example, because their needs and interests are so widely varied you would need a website the size of eBay to try to list all of your products and even then you would fall short. As we mentioned earlier there are so many different categories and sub-categories of this market it would be fallacy to even attempt such an endeavor.
As with any market segment you must identify a particular niche within the market that has a certain need and then target this group by advertising a product which satisfies this want. We’re now entering the area of keyword research and of how to find a hungry niche which is beyond the scope of this editorial, suffice it to say this is what you must do before creating your product and before devising your Internet marketing strategy.
Mistake number 4: “Creating your product before finding out if there’s a market for it.” I’m sure there are documented cases where Internet marketers have spent thousands of dollars creating or paying to have someone else create a software program that performs a particular function online without first doing their research to discover if there are people out there in cyber space who need or want this product.
Whether you’re writing a $37.00 e-book or creating a $2000.00 Internet marketing course you must first look for a market to sell it to. If there are people looking for this type of merchandise to satisfy their craving for this information then, by all means, go ahead and create it. Without your niche in place however your product creation efforts will be a waste of time and money as well as an endless source of frustration for you and your home business.
Mistake number 3: “Trying to do everything yourself.” Contrary to some of the advertising online, that claims you can become a millionaire in a few months by working 2 hours a day, Internet marketing and starting your own business on the web is hard work. There are so many different aspects of the enterprise you’re responsible for including the technical details that sometimes the day isn’t long enough to get everything done.
In order to prevent burn-out even before you really get started you should consider outsourcing some of the more tedious areas of your day-to-day work. There are many websites and forums available on the Internet where people are advertising their writing skills for example, and would be more than happy to take this chore off your hands for a reasonable fee.
It may be wise to look at your daily to-do list to find out which jobs you can contract out to people so you don’t become overwhelmed and want to quit before you succeed with your endeavor.
Mistake number 2: “Neglecting your customers.” Sometimes we get so involved in selling or marketing our products to our prospects we forget about the people who have already signed on the dotted line, so to speak, our customers. As Internet marketers we must never forget our current clients form the foundation of our business future. You should always follow-up via email or sometimes telephone to ask how your product is working for them and to just make them feel appreciated for being your customer.
You can then follow-up with email messages when you have a new product or service to offer and perhaps provide a discount to them for being loyal patrons of your enterprise to help convince them to buy again. Customer service and appreciation are very important to the longevity of any business whether it’s online home business or a more traditional brick and mortar establishment offline.
And the number 1 mistake committed by Internet marketers online today is: “Failing to build or create an email list.” As every Internet marketer has heard: “The money is in the list” and failure to recognize this fact will cost you more than you will ever know monetarily and it could even cost you your business’s very existence in the future.
So create a squeeze page and offer a free gift to anyone who leaves their name and email address so you can follow-up with them regularly to convince them to become customers, or if they already are clients so you can offer them other products and sell to them again.
By avoiding these 5 Internet marketing errors you will help ensure the long term viability of your home business so that it will remain a profitable venture for years to come online.
