'They're just out to con you': 9 lies about marketing online

Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Michael in Online Marketing

There are a lot of myths about online marketing some of which are created by the marketing industry itself and some of which are entertained by consumers of marketing. There are also those myths believed by those who are not part of the mainstream online marketing industry but would like to be.

Lie 1: ‘You must have a website first’
Although I believe it is better to have a simple web site or landing page for people to come and see you, it is not an absolute must. Depending on what kind of business you have or want to have it is possible to simply drive people to your Facebook Profile, or your YouTube account and from there you can tell people what services or products you provide or you can recommend affiliate products. But sooner or later you will probably find the need to have a site. Just don’t assume you have to start by spending thousands on a website. You don’t! I started my business with nothing more than a simple squeeze page.

Lie 2: ‘You shouldn’t launch your site until it’s all perfect’
No and no again. Believe it or not, having a perfect all singing, all dancing website is one of the least of your problems. The biggest marketing mistakes made by those who start or take their business online is that they set out to create a perfect site based on a concept or idea without first researching what the market is looking for. Find out what the market is looking for then create a simple response and site around it. After that, regular and relevant content is good and helps you get found by the search engines but first find out if it is wanted.

Lie 3: ‘…you’ll be an overnight success’
Most of the internet marketers I know never claim overnight success in their business, for those that do, I simply don’t believe them. Most overnight successes have been at it for several years learning how, making mistakes and trying new ideas and developing techniques. This takes time. If you are committed to it for a period of time you will get success.

Lie 4: ‘Internet marketing is easy’
No business is easy. There are businesses that are ‘simple’ and business models that are ‘simple’ but this does not mean they are easy. Internet marketers sometimes try to claim their success was easy so that people will buy their products. Claiming something is easy reduces the perception of struggle and encourages people to buy – humans tend to be attracted by the path of least resistance! But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s all going to happen easily just because you set up a site with a product on it. You need to learn and techniques and strategies that work for your niche.

Lie 5: ‘Internet marketing is too hard’
This is also a myth. Lots of people make a good living on line and some make an amazing living online but all of these have usually worked at it for a long time. It’s only too hard for those that don’t want to work at it. Like any business you can work at it for a long time before you get the significant breakthroughs. These can come early for some but take much longer for most of us. Those who keep at it usually succeed in the end.

Lie 6: ‘They’re just out to con you’
I hear this a lot from those who have never tried it. It is easy to get the feeling that everyone out there who can help you with your business is going to rip you off or con you. I have bought a lot of services (dozens and dozens of times) online and I have only once felt I was mis-sold something. When I contacted them I got an immediate refund. All the internet marketers I buy stuff from are really ethical and up front. If ever you buy something online make sure you look for guarantees and value for money. This does not mean that absolutely everyone is ethical. Look for the signs: do they have an established online presence, a guarantee, testimonials etc. There are some people who are just looking to make a fast buck.

Lie 7: ‘It doesn’t work’
People who try one technique in internet marketing and it doesn’t work for them straight away get frustrated and give up. There are also those who try it in different ways with different techniques who eventually succeed. Like any other aspect of business you have to start learning different strategies and in different ways. The problem is that because the internet offers instant results in many ways we expect it to deliver instant marketing results. So when it doesn’t we get frustrated and upset. Stay with it, learn and use different ways of doing things. It took me a year before I earned a penny, it took another year before I was making it regularly … I still had failures. So stick with it.

Lie 8: ‘People just won’t buy my stuff’
If you have marketed something well and promoted it properly, the only reasons that people aren’t buying it is because you haven’t offered them exactly what they want or you haven’t communicated the value of having it (or the consequences of not having it). Of course sometimes people just don’t have the means to pay which is understandable this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to build a relationship with them

Lie 9: ‘You can’t charge for something that is free somewhere else’
This is myth that I keep hearing. If your offer is good value then people will buy it because they know that they will spend hours and hours looking for all the free stuff, which is most likely not in one place but scattered all over the net in different places. It’s easier to pay the money and get the information or the help all in one place. When I think how much time I have wasted looking for the free offers (which are nearly always inferior to the paid option and then calculate what my time is worth I soon find that it has cost me more.

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Tags: internet marketing lies, lies about internet marketing, lies about online marketing, myths of internet marketing