Many of you probably already understand this concept. But for some of you, this may be aha moment:To be successful in online marketing, you must be a marketer. Like I said, many of you probably understand this concept already but I and many others out there in the Internet Marketing world haven’t quite grasped this concept yet.
And it’s not totally our fault. Many affiliate marketing, network marketing and other online marketing opportunities advertise their businesses like this. The so-called gurus or experts say, “You don’t have to have a background or have any knowledge of sales, marketing or psychology or any of that stuff. Just post your affiliate link in your blog or your social media page or direct your leads to your lead capture page and the system does all the sales and marketing for you.”
I’m guessing for me and many others, this has not been the case. Many aspiring online marketers have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on affiliate programs, lead capture programs and automated systems that haven’t made many people a dime.
Let me restate the obvious: You must be a marketer to be success at online marketing. Attempting to be a successful online marketing without being a marketer is like trying to build a house without a foundation. But the truth is, no one wants to be a salesperson or marketer. Salespeople or marketers have a negative connotation in many of our minds. We have visions of pushy and loud sales people who lie, manipulate and force us into buying things we don’t want or products of poor quality.
However you see sales or marketing people, the bottom line is that whether you’re selling products online or offline, the principles are the same. Regardless of what the gurus tell you, you have to be able to be to think like a marketer. How do you know if you’re a marketer? You need to be able to answer these five questions to determine if you’re a marketer.
- Do you see opportunity to make money all around you?
- Do you know why people buy?
- Are you aware of all the marketing messages around you?
- Do you know the sales process?
- Can you look at a product and get a quick picture of how it will make money?
- Do you see a market for a product?
Although prior experience in marketing in the offline world doesn’t guarantee success in the Internet marketing world, it certainly serves as a foundation.
If you asked yourself the above questions and you determine that you don’t think like a marketer, there is no reason to lose hope. There are a few things to transform your mind into a marketer.
One of the best ways to transform your mind into a marketer’s mind is to read books. Here a few books I recommend reading:
- How To Win Friends and Influence People – By Dale Carnegie
- Secrets Of Closing the Sale – By Zig Ziglar
- How To Sell Anything To Anybody – Joe Girard
- The Irresistible Offer – By Mark Joyner
Another way to transform your mind is to make a conscience effort to look at the world from a marketers lens. Changing the way you think most likely won’t be an overnight process. It will take time. But as you make an intentional effort to change your thought process, you will begin seeing the world from a different perspective. And when this happens, you will begin to see sales both online and offline.
