thinking of your efforts online AS marketing.
What am I getting at?
Let me explain…
Most people seem to view their website as just a virtual version of a business card. In fact, many times people tell me that their website is an “online brochure” or some other such nonsense.
Now, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that a business card does not GENERATE revenue for you.
And creating an online version of one is next to useless for you, both in the short term and in the long run.
Lessons from Huffingtonpost.com
Whenever I’ve asked people about what you can learn from the huffingtonpost, 9 times out of 10 most people completely miss the point.
By a wide margin.
The other 1 out of 10 are close… but no cigar.
So here goes — perhaps you heard that Arianna Huffington sold the huffingtonpost.com a month or so ago for around 315 million dollars.
Now let me ask you something — why was that website (a blog website at that) worth that kind of money?
Think about this for a minute, because this is the lesson I have been driving at for more than 3 years with regards to blog websites, blog marketing, and online marketing in general.
Unique monthly visitors.
That’s the difference.
The reason facebook is valued in the billions — and why Arianna Huffington was able to get so much money for her blog website are one in the same.
In both cases a recognized (and recognizable) ASSET was created, and the value was based on the amount of users or viewers on a monthly basis.
Now let me ask you a few pointed questions:
- is a business card an asset?
- is your website an asset?
- does your “marketing” work 24/7/365 on autopilot FOR you?
- can you name ONE valuable (as in SELLABLE) asset in your business right now?
For most people the answer is a resounding no.
Your service is not an asset. Your personal connections, however valuable they may be in generating more clients or revenue for you, does not get you out of the formula “unit of work = unit of pay.”
A tangible asset in your business is something somebody would be willing to buy (pay for) because there would be an immediate and recognizable return on investment.
What you do and who you know, however valuable to you, is not something transferable to another person.
So what can you do about it?
What are you willing (or able) to do about it?
Web Marketing Realities
The myth of “getting your name out there” or “personal branding” are based on one and the same fatal flaw… the assumption that people buy from you because of WHO you are.
I’ll let you in on a little secret… no one really cares at all about WHO you are, but they might care about WHAT you know or WHAT you can do for them.
In other words, personal branding is a byproduct of working with clients or delivering a product (or service) to customers.
And over time your customers, provided they are happy with you/your service, begin to invest your business (or you as the face of the business) with emotional significance.
Not the other way around.
That, my friends, is how a brand is created… by your customer. You can guide the development, to be sure, but you can’t create it from scratch.
Now what does this have to do with building an asset?
Because in both cases people often put the cart before the horse. They just focus on ALL the wrong things, missing the main point completely.
You don’t use the web to market your business to “build a brand” or “get your name out there.” You use the web because — done properly — it is the single most effective (and cost effective) way to get more customers (or clients) to buy from you.
Your website should make you money, or else you are just wasting your precious time.
Perhaps You are Not Ready for Expert Guidance
Whether you have worked with another web marketing firm in the past, OR you have been working at improving your website by yourself, here’s what you can do right now…
Call us to schedule a no-strings-attached phone consultation.
That’s it.
Call 888-542-2936 Today!
After you leave a voice message I will personally follow up with you to schedule a mutually convenient time to discuss your web sales, goals, and long-term plans.
And if it makes sense for the both of us to pursue a working relationship, we’ll decide together.
After all, the choice is yours…
