My blog gets a lot of hits for search phrases like “eMarketing what works and what doesn’t” and “internet marketing best practices.” I have a mental picture of the people using these search terms as nomads wandering across the desert that is the internet searching for answers they’re probably not finding. I wonder if these intrepid searchers find the answers they are looking for. Somehow I doubt it. “What works in internet marketing?” is almost as difficult a question to answer as “How do we create world peace?”

I think this question stems from a deeper frustration that eMarketing doesn’t seem to work. I’ve talked to dozens of business owners who feel like they’re tried everything only to wind up with a handful of website visitors each month, a mailing list of a couple of hundred people, a blog that makes them feel like they’re talking to themselves and a sense that social networking is a total waste of time.

It’s easy to assume that eMarketing isn’t working for folks because they’re doing it wrong. And while that is surely an element to the problem, I’ve come to realize that many business owners have assumptions about attracting clients via the internet that aren’t realistic or send them off in the wrong direction.

The rest of this article will focus on the underlying assumptions that lead us astray when it comes to eMarketing. In future posts I will address creating an eMarketing plan, how to create buyer personas and how to put the pieces of the eMarketing pie together in a way that attracts clients instead of just wasting your time.

Technology versus People

It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the purpose of eMarketing is to connect with people. This may seem obvious but think about at what we pay attention to when it comes to internet marketing: How well does my website rank? What newsletter system should I use? What blogging platform should I use? What social networks should I be on? All of these questions are about technology; not about people. While they are all valid and important questions, they are the systems we use for communication; they are not communication themselves. It’s like confusing the telephone with the person on the other end of the phone. (I’m reminded of the Comcast commercial where the person is saying “But I have Comcast high speed phone service now.” and expecting a different outcome from the conversation.)

Introverts and people who think of used car sales men when the concept of selling comes up like the idea of being able to find clients via the internet because it allows them to stay in their comfort zone. They don’t have to leave their office, they don’t have to go to networking events and they don’t have to feel insecure each time they say their elevator speech. They can just hide behind their computer and work on the things they have control over; adding a new page to their website, tweaking their newsletter template, adding a new widget to their blog, making lists of new key phrases, etcetera…etcetera…etcetera…

The false assumption is that we can control technology but we can’t control people. Granted, you can’t make someone buy your product or service but if you show up at the right place at the right time with the right solution, you can entice people to buy your product or service; or at least choose to hear from you again. When you overly focus on the method of communication, you lose sight of the real goal which is to influence buying decisions.

“If You Build It, They Will Come” Only Happens in the Movies

An analogy I often use about building relationships online is that you wouldn’t go to a networking event, stand in the corner the whole time and afterwards complain about how it didn’t work. So why are you doing it on the internet?! Just because you have a website (even if it’s a fantastic website) with a newsletter sign up form, a blog you’ve submitted to all the blog directories, and a social networking profile on all the big social networking sites, doesn’t mean anyone is going to contact you. You have to go to them! Sure, you have to “build it;” but you also have to start conversations and participate in existing conversations.

There are many, many ways to waste time on the internet so in order to have productive online conversations you have to know where your target markets hang out online. In order to be where they are, you have to know your target markets very, very well. The better you know them, their interests, their pains and frustrations, the more able you will be to figure out where they are hanging out online and where you need to be showing up.

To know where you need to be showing up, start by making lists. How you organize your lists will depend on many factors but regardless of how you do it, your lists need to include:
• websites your target markets visit (for entertainment, for information, for analysis)
• blogs and forums they read
• experts they pay attention to
• stores they shop at
• other products or services they buy

These lists will be an ongoing work in progress. As long you are creating online relationships, you will be adding to your lists.

Product Development Is Not Marketing

A common mistake I see many entrepreneurial minded business owners make is that each time they decide to do something about their lack of sales they create another product. They get a great idea and think “This is the one that’s going make me rich!” (Or famous. Or an expert.) Instead of doing the hard work of selling what they’ve got, they jump right back into the design process and once again they’re in their comfort zone. They’re happily creating away while avoiding the real problem; selling the products they already have.

There are a couple of reasons why your informational products aren’t selling. Either there isn’t a market for it or you just don’t know how to sell it. Either way, jumping into developing a new product isn’t going to help you. If you’re tempted to design your way out of poor sales, slow down and really examine whether or not a new product is going to make a difference. Do some market research to make sure there aren’t already a dozen similar products out there and that there really is a market for what you want to design. If you come to the conclusion that you don’t know how to sell what you’ve already got, find someone who does and either do a profit split with them or pay them to teach you how to sell it yourself.

Marketing Gurus Promising Riches Are the Only Ones Getting Rich

The following is an actual ebook title:

"How To Make Money With Anything You Choose to Sell
On-Line... Automatically...With a Simple, Proven Strategy! "

There are dozens if not hundreds of marketing gurus on the internet promising that if you just buy their “secrets” you will make money in your sleep. Years ago I bought a few of these books and came to realize they all say the same thing. They tell you to put up a website, write an obnoxiously long sales page, get some testimonials and run a Google Adwords campaign. What the don’t tell you is that the days of being able to throw up a Google Adwords campaign and expect the money to start rolling in are over! Sure. There are people who made gobs of money doing it — I even know a few who managed to do it — but even they say it’s not possible anymore. Once again, the old maxim holds true; if it sounds too good to be true, it is.

All these books and programs do one thing. They focus on infrastructure. Once again we are back to focusing on technology instead of focusing on building relationships with people. These “gurus” will dazzle you with their stories of thousands of dollars worth of product sold in a single week; and it might even be true. What they’re not telling you is that they were able to do it because they already have a mailing list of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people. When you can get in front of that many people with one email, you’re bound to make money.

Are You Answering the Door when People Knock?

There are several ways to get in front of potential customers but none of them matter if your website doesn’t back them up. I talk to people every week who want help marketing their business online and they balk when I tell them we have to start with their website. Maybe it’s that a website redesign sounds expensive or maybe it’s because a website redesign doesn’t sound nearly as sexy as a social media campaign. But if your website isn’t set up in a way that makes sense to the people you are driving to your site and they can’t find the solution to their problem, don’t bother with the sexier stuff. It will just be a waste of time and money.

While you do need to think about what impression the look of your website gives people, you don’t have to spend a bunch of money to have the most beautiful website. The bulk of your web design effort should go to understanding who is coming to your website, what they are looking for and where they expect that information to be on your website. Remember, with so many ways to connect online, people are coming to your site from a variety of sources and with a variety of reasons. Make sure you’ve thought about all the possible ways they could find you and what they might be looking for.

So if you think eMarketing doesn’t work, you need to take a look at the assumptions you have about it, stop focusing so much on technology and start focusing more on the people you are trying to connect with.

Your social networking profile is important. People visiting your profile are making conclusions about you and your business from very little information. Small things, like your picture (also known as your Avatar) and your email address can say a lot about you. Your bio and your company description will say even more about you. Don’t just throw your social networking profile together. Put the time and effort into creating a profile that’s informative and compelling. Doing so will make a huge difference in how you are perceived by your social network.

Every directory and social networking site wants slightly different stuff so it’s hard to say “This is exactly what you need.” But if you have the basics, you can edit or add as needed. The following is a list of information you will most likely be asked to add to your profile (assuming your profile is mainly for business purposes).

Components of a Social Networking Profile:

• Screen name – Base it on your name or business name. “Cutesy” screen names make you look unprofessional.


• Job title


• Company


• Website URL


• Blog URL


• Tagline


• Email address – Use a professional email address not your personal email address. If you have a website, have your webmaster set up an email addresses at your domain name. It looks a lot more professional than a Yahoo or Comcast email address.


• Thumbnail picture (aka Avatar) – Get a good headshot! Don’t have your kid or spouse line you up against the wall and take a photo. It’s unprofessional and can be downright scary. You don’t have to spend a fortune on professional pictures. I recommend going to a high school portrait photographer and asking them for a CD of the pictures.


• Summary or Bio of different lengths – It is crucial that your summary or bio be well written. Don’t just throw it together on the fly! Spend some time working on it or get help with it. Tailor it to the audience of the specific social networking site.


• Key words and phrases that describe your products or services. These are words your target markets would use to find you so be careful about using industry specific jargon.

Information you might need or want to include:

• Education and job history – If you’re in a field where these types of credentials are important and you don’t mind disclosing them, go ahead but be mindful of how much information you’re giving out.


• Recommendations or Testimonials – You do have these, right? Well put them on your profile! Show people this isn’t your first day on the job.


• Interests or Hobbies – Remember; people are looking for information about who you are. Adding pertinent interests and hobbies can make you memorable.


• Groups and Associations – Listing these adds to your credibility. If you have access to the group or association logo, add it if possible.

This morning at a panel discuss “The Blended Search Revoultion”*, Raju Mathotra of Microsoft, discussed the three main ways people search.
Find – The searcher is looking for a specific answer to a specific question. i.e. driving directions or movie times.
Discover – The searcher has a clear need but is uncertain about next steps.
Explore – The searcher is interested in a topic and is noodling around on the internet. (I know I often do my research this way.)

In both discovery and exploration, the searcher tends to have multiple, search sessions.
What does this mean for service professionals? I think it means they need to consider all these types of searching when creating quality content on their blog and website. An FAQ page could be a way to attract the Finders. Focusing text on problems and solutions can be a way to attract the Discovers and “How To” articles can be a way to attract explorers.
But before you do any of this, you need to think about what questions do my target markets want answered, what problems do they have and what do I know that they’d be interested in? If you’re not clear on what your target markets are looking for, you wind up missing the mark and that great content turns out to be charity work. (Nothing wrong with charity work but it’s best to be clear that that’s your intention.)

* The Blended Search Revolution - The first generation of search engines ranked pages based on the content of those pages alone -- the words on the page. The second generation increased relevancy by analyzing links. The third generation, Search 3.0, is upon us now in full force. Google Universal Search, Ask.com's Morph, Microsoft Live Search Scopes and Yahoo Shortcuts are different names for the same core concept -- automatically blending in results from specialized or "vertical" search engines such as video search or local search. This session looks at the revolutionary change happening with blended search and how search marketers can ride the wave to success.

• Be sure to check how big your folders are. When I purchased my plan, I thought 2 GB of space would be enough. Little did I realize that the folders I wanted to back up were closer to 16 GB! (Here’s how to check your folder size: Assuming you have a PC, right click on the folder, then click on Properties, and then select the General tab.)
• It’s certainly not a requirement but you also might want to clean up the files on your computer first. I didn’t realize that I had a bunch of music files I didn’t want that where taking up a bunch of space.
• Music files and pictures are WAY bigger files than your Word docs, spreadsheets or PDF files so if you’re looking to reduce files, clean those out first.
• Don’t forget to clean out your email! If you’re one of those people who pride yourself on keeping every email you ever received, get over it. There’s a good chance your Outlook file is going to be pretty big. My general rule of thumb is to delete emails older than a year unless they relate to financial stuff or important decisions made by clients.

1. Click on the email to highlight it but don’t open it.
   Then right click on the message.
   It will pull up a screen that should look something like this:

I’m helping a long time client create an ebook about writing a business and marketing plan for the new year. She has a treasure trove of stuff she’s written on the topics of business planning, marketing planning and face-to-face networking over the last ten years. So you’d think it would be easy to just throw it all together into an ebook, right? Nope. Just because you have a bunch of great content, doesn’t mean it’s ready to become an ebook. Here’s why:

Throwing things together when cooking can be brilliance. In ebooks, it’s garbage.
Every good article, white paper or report was written with a specific goal, call to action, publication and target market. Although there might have been common themes, each article had its own unique recipe of factors. So just because each original document was brilliant doesn’t mean the combined effect will be brilliant. Start by pulling together all the material you want to include but plan to do some major rewriting. Other wise it won’t make sense, it will sound disjointed and you will annoy your reader.

Before you edit, answer these questions:

• Who is this book for?


• What problem does this ebook address?


• What will the reader have or know when they are done with this ebook?


• What steps am I asking them to take? (Be specific!)


• Why am I asking them to take these steps?


• Do I have the steps in the right order?


• Are they getting their money’s worth?

You need an editor.
If you’re a good writer and editor, you might be able to get away with writing the whole thing by yourself. If you’re writing it by yourself to save money, you’re wasting your time and you won’t save money. You will write a bad ebook that won’t sell. You’d be better off doing client work.

When it comes to formatting your ebook, just pay somebody.
Unless you or your assistant has spent ten years learning the ins-and-outs of formatting long documents for digital publication and has an amazing eye for detail, you will wind up very pissed off. Many times over. Why punish yourself? Just pay someone who knows what they’re doing. You might wind up paying them $50 an hour for 5 hours ($250) which is cheaper than paying your $15 an hour assistant for three days worth of work ($360) and it’s still screwed up and she’s ready to quit from frustration and she’s done nothing else in those three days… You get the idea. Just cough up the money.

P.S. Not only can I edit and format ebooks, I can set up the payment process on your website and help you creatively sell/market your ebook. Just hire me. We’ll all be a lot happier.

So, if you're an expert on social media, you might want to sign up to be a Wikipedia editor. (Personally, I wouldn't want to paint such a big target on my back but maybe you're braver than me!)