Four myths of internet marketing
Let me state at the beginning that the number four is not sacrosanct. But these four myths are the most important because they cause a distorted vision of internet marketing as a whole.
The first myth: SEO is all important
There was a time when this was true to a large extent. But those days are long gone when you could insert keywords and meta in your web pages and voila –you get to top the search engine ranking. Those were pre Google days when there were more than ten popular search engines. Those of you from that golden era would remember submitting to all those search engines (Alta vista, Lycos, Northern Light) . I understand that some of the old dinosaurs are still around but their presence is almost negligible. So what challenged the SEO supremacy? The blog. The social networking sites. And YouTube . Together they have made SEO another important tool in internet marketing rather than the only tool. I know for a fact that many internet savvy marketers emphasize networking on the internet to be more effective than SEO. Let’s not forget that our goal is to sell our services and products. If we can do it through other channels, so be it. We should not be obsessed with SEO. That is the short and long of the matter. I am not suggesting that you must ignore SEO. Far from it. SEO is important. But it has lost its numero uno status. Social networking sites can pull in more crowd and customers. They can create better awareness and PR. Groups and niche audiences can be discovered only through social sites. SEO can never equal the power of peer groups. This does not mean that web sites are no longer relevant. They will become repositories of information in future – places where people will look for more data.
Myth number two: Product or service does not matter
Remember the 4 P’s of marketing – Product is considered to be an important factor in selling. After all it is the culmination of our marketing effort. But internet marketers or so called experts seem to ignore this altogether. It is as if there is no product –only marketing. What an irony that we are marketing san products. Even if there is a nebula of a product somewhere in the background, it doesn’t seem to be important. No doubt, the whole lot of us are confused. Let’s get real – we need a quality product to sell. Either our own or an affiliates. Everyone seems to be selling EBooks on the internet. Wonder who buys such crap. And when we don’t sell, we start questioning the entire system. Internet marketing is no different from traditional stuff. You must have a good product to sell.
Myth number three: One landing page is all you need to sell
Landing pages – I can write volumes on this stuff. The internet abounds in this thing as if it were a mantra which would rake in the cash. And the format is same, with hundreds of testimonials. Wonder where they catch the guys to give such fabulous feedback! There is a feeling among most of us that one single landing page will do the trick. No. It won’t. You are wasting your time and money if you take this route. I cannot put it more bluntly. Landing page is a zero sum game. Don’t get into it.
Myth number four: Human interaction is not required for an internet business
Can you believe it? I read through so many sites which promise you that everything will be automated and the money will keep pouring into your bank account. They call it ‘automated income’. While you take a holiday with your boyfriend (or girlfriend ) off the Caribbean coast , your internet business would be furiously raking in the moolah. Whom are you fooling? Only yourself. I agree that many products and services do not need human interaction but no business including an internet one can function on its own. You have to nurture, monitor and manage your online business as much as you would a traditional venture.
You would notice that all these myths are related to one major misunderstanding – that internet is a whole new strange animal which feeds on something totally different than a normal business. If you can come to terms with the fact that internet marketing is no different, you will be driving down the right lane. Only then you will see the light.
