So... Is there a shortcut to Internet Marketing Success?

Hi Folks,

As a "new" member here I thought it best if I introduce myself by making post that is a little more than a few lines -

As some of you would know, almost one year ago I came back online after four years away. And in this time I can see one thing that most certainly hasn't changed - I am absolutely gob-smacked by the number of people still taking shortcuts in their business!

Yes, it's true that we do live in a world where things move 'faster' than they used to; eMail, iPods, Twitter, Blogging and so on, these are terms that didn't even exist when we were young - but the 'shortcut syndrome' (as I call it) has been around for years, and it's the curse of all business people (whether they work for themselves or not).

Once upon a time though, there *was* a culture where each person involved in business had to be meticulous in all that they did. Back then there was no "level playing field" (as the Internet has been called) and therefore not everyone (only the fortunate few) were able to start their own business. Thus, those involved in business had to 'work hard' in order to peddle their wares, get results and stand up above the competition.

Now-a-days we use phrases like, "Don't work hard - work smart". Yeah, right. That may work for the gifted few, but for us 'average Joe's' out there in the *real world* - we gotta work damned hard as well.

And so, with newer technology has come greater opportunity - "the Great Level Playing Field" - The Internet. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry can come along, get the idea into their head that they can make some money and burst into the scene of this modern gold rush seeking fame and fortune.

The only problem with that however is that... yes, EVERY Tom, Dick and Harry *has* come along. So has Jane, Joe, Denise, Carrie, Darrel... oh, you get the picture!

So here we have two colliding factors; the greatest opportunity to ever hit the face of the planet & the greatest number of people on the planet ever to come together and try to jump onto it.

And so... we take shortcuts. We try to do our level best to 'get ahead' of the other guy by moving as fast as we possibly can and doing as much as our little fingers will take us, crossing the expanse of the World Wide Web in a ship called 'The Money Making Opportunity'.

There's only one problem with that: you're not the only person on the ship, and there are literally millions of 'ships' out there - all trying to arrive at the same destination.

Confused? I would hope not, but let me talk in plain English for a moment and move away from the metaphors.

Here's what I mean; I'm writing this at the moment. It's ten to eight in the morning, I'm sitting at local coffee shop waiting for some friends. Why am I writing about this now? Simply because I've told my training students that I'll be posting some new thoughts about this about this time each morning (and the fact that I haven't got any cued up on auto-submit at present). Putting pen to paper right now (so to speak) is showing commitment; it would have been easier to wait till I got home at lunch, but then I'd be a few hours late. Doing what I've said I will do makes me stand out from the crowd. To take a shortcut would be to pull out and rehash an old training brief from years past, or using someone else's content, or not sending anything to them at all.

Of course what I *need* to do is write a whole bunch of training briefs in advance and cue them up for auto submit. That's called working hard AND smart. (Guess what I'll be doing more of this afternoon!)

Here's another example: The other day I was snooping around Online looking through a few keywords so I might put up another portal site (drawing traffic for ad links and affiliate income etc). While looking through a few search terms on "telescopes" I came across a number of sites that had only been registered and put up about 3 months ago. Each of these sites had been built with Wordpress and each of them were nothing short of APPALLING! The guy who'd done it didn't even take the time to post *ONE* article with each of his sites. Talk about laziness!! This was absurdity at it's best.

He was obviously following 'the so-called' latest intelligence on how to build quick sites and generate income. He's probably wasted hundreds of dollars on domain names - and the consequences of his shortcuts was that NOT ONE of the sites I could find ranked even in the first five pages of the search engines under his chosen search term, I found them by searching domain names.

[Sidebar: Sorry, *one* of them did - but it was for a search term that had only 258 sites as competition where it ranked 3rd lol]

Which reminds me, last month there was some guru on "one of" the marketing forums touting that he'd found the formula for getting front page rankings on "long string keywords" - I checked out his work and found it to be true. However, on going to the Goggle Keywords tool, I also found that on ALL of his keywords the number of monthly traffic was listed as "Not Enough Data" - nil, zip, nada. Another slave to taking shortcuts.

The point is this: there is always going to be another, faster, shorter, easier way to do any particular task - but - that doesn't mean that it's any BETTER. Do you get the point? I'm not suggesting that you slave away and start going back to the days of fax paper and toner cartridges, but I am saying that you should be a little wise. If you find that some guy (or girl) has put together a training package to show you how to *do* a few things, then you should BE WISE and FOLLOW that training. Don't do what approximately 90% of people out there do... buy the package, gloss over it, and go 'do your best' with it. You can't take shortcuts where you're learning a new technique or strategy.

[Sidebar: That 90% is quoted from an experiment conducted my Kevin Truedau (Mr. Mega Memory Man - remember him :)) where he mailed out 100 'empty' cassette packages to paying customers and LESS THAN 10% rang up to complain!]

Don't believe that it is the nature of man to take shortcuts yet? Here's one last example....

I *did* the Mega Memory program (incredible stuff). I got it from a friend of mine after seeing it on his bookshelf one afternoon. I said to him, "Mate, I would LOVE to borrow that after you're finished with it."

He replied, "Oh I haven't even started yet... ordered the stupid thing 8 months ago but never got around to listening to it."

What?? Yep. True. It was still in it's plastic wrapper! He was one of the 90%.

What *you* need to do is become one of the 10%.

:)


Paul Barrs

Good stuff Paul, and so true. There is alot of info out there, and so many directions you can take your business. But there is no "blueprint" and that is what people want. Hard work, dedication, failing, testing - these things are not just in the 'brick and mortar' business world. But too many people see the BS headlines "make money from home" and think just because they don't have a boss and can work in their underwear means that they don't have to work hard.

Very well written Paul.

I see people taking the shortcut approach all the time, and to be honest, when I got started online a few years back I tried to take a few shortcuts myself...

Over the years I've found out through trial and error that if you want to build something lasting and worthwhile online, then taking shortcuts is not the approach, shortcuts inevitably result in short term results, if any.

Hard work always weeds out the people who really desire to achieve something, and those that are only focused on making a quick buck.