Do you think there are any secrets left to Internet Marketing?
I would argue, there are not.
It’s all been done.
There’s nothing left.
Neil Patel just released the most comprehensive SEO Guide ever (for free) so we’ve pretty much got SEO figured out.
Amy Porterfield and Jon Loomer have Facebook wrapped up.
Marcus Sheridan has content marketing on lock.
Pat Flynn owns affiliate marketing.
Mark Schaefer and Jay Baer rock Internet marketing strategy like we all rocked slap bracelets in the early ’90s.
I could go on…
The point is there are experts in every corner of Internet marketing at this point, even the dark corners (or should I say especially the dark corners).
The jig is up.
The rooster has crowed.
The cows have come home.
You and I… we’re not early adopters.
At this point…
…knowledge alone is NOT going bring us success marketing our business Online.
If we chase tactics we’re going to fail.
I’m not even an expert and I can teach you tactics.
Tactics are the easy part.
All the tactics have been figured out.
- Create content via a blog
- Share content on social media
- Write a coule guest posts
- Capture email subscribers
- Dump sales copy on email subscribers
- Rinse and repeat
This is the process for success Online.
Right?
Mix in some affiliate sales through product reviews like this one for Scribe Content Marketing and you’re on your way Internet marketing nirvana.
Isn’t this process we’re sold?
Isn’t that what we’re all supposed to do?
WAIT!
If there are experts willing to give us the secrets of Internet marketing for free and the process for Internet marketing success is already well documented then why do we fail at Internet marketing?
We ask the wrong damn questions!
Today’s connected Internet gives us access to brilliant leaders with a few bangs on the keyboard and mouse click…
…and most of these experts are dumb…errrr… smart enough to tell you the exact process they took to achieve the success they currently hold.
Yet we still fail at Internet marketing…
We fail at Internet marketing because we squander our access to experts and leaders by asking the WRONG question.
“What is everyone else doing?”
Probably the single worst and most detrimental question you can ask about achieving success.
Intuitively it seems like the most important question.
What are my peers doing?
What are the best practices?
How much revenue does the average business in my industry produce from taking this action?
Can you show me case studies of successful businesses in my industry taking this action?
Ask these questions and you are going to fail.
We fail at Internet marketing because we try to replicate genius. We try to duplicate brilliance.
Do you remember carbon paper?
Was the copy underneath every as good as the original?
No.
You could barely read the copy. You hated being handed the copy.
Why did you hate being handed the copy?
Because it wasn’t as good as the original!
So let’s bring this back to Internet marketing…
The reason we fail at Internet marketing is because we play it safe. We form committees and hold meetings and hire experts to come in and build a proven, tested road map to achieve success.
Except the secret, the secret that most experts don’t want to tell you, is that…
Internet marketing success finds only the few willing to be original.
There most certainly are best practices to success in Internet marketing.
- You need to be creating original content that tells your story
- You need to be building an email list
- You need to be strengthening relationships through social media
How?
Well my friend… that’s up to you.
How is what differentiates Brian Clark and Joe Pulizzi from the guy selling $99 PDF files on landing pages with every other sentence highlighted yellow.
The reason we fail at Internet marketing is we never consider how we are different from our competitors.
The Next Time You Meet an Internet Marketing Expert
Ask them this question instead:
“What is NO ONE doing?”
Or ask them your original question…
Get the report of what everyone else is doing…
Take every single page of the report and tape them to the wall…
Then spray paint in big bold black letters…
WE CAN’T DO ANY OF THIS… NOW WHAT?
Now what?
You know everything you can’t do, because it’s already been done… Now what?
Now you tap into your organizations originality and bask in the aura of “This has never been done before.”
It’s exhilarating.
It’s breathtaking.
It’s the marketing that is actually going to work.
Why do we fail at Internet marketing?
Because we’re boring…
…but boring is a fixable ailment.
Originality, creativity and and hard work are the cure.
Now go succeed.
Thank you and Good luck,
I am Ryan Hanley and if you enjoyed this article you’ll love the Content Warfare Newsletter, get it here.
SPEAK YOUR MIND: Why do you think we fail at Internet marketing? How do you succeed?
Ryan,
The beauty of this post is the freedom it creates. I KNOW those are the basic steps to inbound marketing and have seen them work time and time again. Sometimes, a lingering doubt appears that maybe there’s something I don’t know, some secret I haven’t picked up on that if I dig a little deeper, will reveal everything. It doesn’t exist – BAM! – freedom!
Now, I just get to be me and do things in a different way and encourage clients to do the same, knowing I’ve got the basics down.
When did you have this big AHA! moment?
Jeff Machado wants you to check out… Storytelling and Social Media: An Inside Look at Proof Eyewear’s Online Success
Awesome! This is why you’re a rising star, Ryan. No BS, use your own brain, tell it like it is. Not to mention, an easy and fun to read format.
Well done!
Jon Loomer wants you to check out… Facebook Offers: Minimum Requirement Dropped to 100 Likes
Thanks Jon… Appreciate that… Really enjoyed our Podcast taping today. Excellent stuff.
Exactly, We don’t use resources properly. And another thing is that there is not a mathematical formula when applied will give you the answer. It has to be solved through patience and hard work.
This is brilliant and a real eye opener. While my website isn’t a blog I still hope to drive traffic to it and I have tried to keep it original and not copy content already available. As you said above, ‘who wants the copy?’
Thanks for the article
John
I Love this one Ryan – we are all original and we should let ourselves stand out online as well. We are always seeing what worked for others secret sauce. Instead we should just test our own sauce right?
Lisa wants you to check out… Online Contests – Which Contests Work Best?
“Test our own sauce…”
There’s an awesome blog post title and an absolutely perfect concept.
Thanks Lisa!
Hanley
I love this post, Ryan. I think you’ve nailed it. When the web is this crowded, what it lacks is originality. It lacks your voice. Instead of duplicating (carbon copying) what’s worked for the “experts” they need to figure out what their strengths are, and play to them. They need to speak in their own voice instead of that of a used car salesman.
Businesses need to figure out how to be themselves. If they’re unabashed baseball nuts, tell us how statistics matter in their industry the way they mattered in Moneyball. If they’re unabashed football fans, then tell us how success in their industry is like success on the gridiron. The beautiful thing is you can write about whatever you want, and tie it back to your theme. There’s no sense staying in the same defined box.
I really hope more businesses do this. They need to follow their own blueprint!
Matt Brennan wants you to check out… Don’t Hog The Credit
Matt,
I spend a decent amount of time on Quora and recently someone asked “How has social media affected the way we communicate?”
My response was the social media has opened up businesses to communicate better. Social media is forcing change. Businesses now have to tell their unique story to survive and we’re all better for it.
Great thoughts!!
Hanley
Great article Ryan and a theme that I pump on my blog too. What make a great marketer? First, I think you do need to learn from the pros. I think you need to study and learn the foundational strategies really well. But that does not assure success at all!
The exhilarating thing for me is that there are no cookie-cutter answers. If you ONLY regurgitate what you think you know you are destined to fail because it is the personal insight and even flair that makes things come alive!
I am working on a massive strategy project for a major company right now. I sometimes wonder how different this strategy would turn out if Jay or Mitch Joel or you were at the helm. Much of it would be the same, because you have to do what you have to do. But the part that keeps the client coming back is the part of the strategy that is YOU and that can never be replicated.
Thanks for the excellent post and the kind shout-out!
Mark,
I was listening to your podcast interview with Michael Stelzner… I loved your answer to the tactics question about business and Twitter. There are basic processes that businesses face but for the most part we can all achieve success in our own unique way…
We are all so unique…
…to live and work in a time when, if willing your can express that uniqueness in the business arena with an unlimited ability to achieve success is amazing.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hanley
We’re all learning. Marcus is amazing…but when I watched his hubspot case study over two years ago..he seemed to have all the answers. Fast forward two years and he’s still learning everyday. Fast forward to 2015…imagine how much he’ll learn in the next two years. yikes.
We can all get 500000% better at all of this. It’s such a new industry (inbound marketing).
Those who learn, test, and aren’t lazy will win the most. I tell my boss I get 20% better at my job every week. It’s true..cause I read blogs like this.
Jason Diller wants you to check out… The Marketing Agency That “Does Our Part”
Jason,
So much of success with inbound marketing is just being there. Dedication to learning and keeping an open mind and consistency.
I’ve been blogging about Marketing for a little over a year now. What I know today versus a year ago is RIDICULOUS and following people like Marcus and Mark Schaefer (from the comment above) are a huge part of that growth.
Then apply your own experience and beliefs mix it all up, write a post, learn more and do it again.
That’s how you get better.
Always appreciate your feedback dude!
Hanley
FYI, opening paragraph on speaking has a typo & your contact form doesn’t work (that’s why I’m messaging you here.. just delete this comment after)
Keep rockin’!
Thanks Matt… Both fixed.
Great article. I am new to the industry and to social networking. Everything I see and read is new and exciting. It gets overwhelming. However, I agree with you. I don’t want to be Shawn the guy that works and sells insurance. I want people to know me and then if they need insurance , they call me. I want to grow my customer base through social media and traditional networking. What advise can you give me about the amount of time to spend on outbound and inbound marketing. So far, I spend 90% of my time on creating content for inbound marketing.
If inbound can pay your bills now I would continue to spend time, effort and even reinvest funds into that space. The sales cycle on inbound can be a little longer so if you need revenue right now outbound can get you there.
But there is no doubt that long-term exponential growth is going to come from inbound marketing.
I wish you the best of luck, insurance business is a great business and I look forward to connecting more.
Hanley