I bet I got your attention with that headline, huh? The fact is, that this might very well be the most important article you’ll ever read.
First of all, there are no “secrets”. Every successful person knows that hard work and persistence is usually what it takes. But today I’m gonna talk about what, in my opinion, is THE most important skill a marketer needs to have to find success.
“Think outside of the box.”
I bet you’re thinking, “oh, no, cliché, boring, give me something new.” Well, that’s probably why you’re not making any money. The ability to think outside of the box is not something everyone can do. I think almost everyone can learn it, but few people really master it.
So what does it REALLY mean?
It means that you constantly look for new ways to do things, to find customers, to generate leads, to get someone’s attention. You never just follow a blueprint, you don’t walk in other people’s footsteps, you create your own.
Look at this scenario with two new marketers with little to no cash to invest: Person A is the kind of person who likes to read guides, follow them, and find that it’s not working that well. Person A likes being spoon fed with information, but never really finds any success, either because the method is already saturated, or because it was just theoretically put together by some “guru” who never cared to test it.
Person A sets up a niche website according to some guide, and then social bookmarks it. He/she even sets up a Facebook Group, because that’s what the guide said to do. Finally he/she writes an article and submits it to some directories, in hope of seeing those millions pouring in. Weeks go by and nothing happens, so Person A thinks it’s a crappy method, and goes on to a new “guide to 1 gazillion dollars in only 24h”-ebook, and of course fails miserably on this one as well.
Now let’s take a look at Person B in the same scenario. He/she reads the same guide and decides to put up a website. He/she follows some of the steps in the guide, social bookmarking and the facebook page. Then he/she sits down and makes a plan, and here is where the “thinking outside of the box” starts. He/she asks questions like “Where does my demographic hang out?” and “What kind of problem am I trying to solve?” and “Can I create strategic partnerships in this?”
Then Person B starts commenting on blogs, videos, forums and social platforms that are relevant to his/her niche, of course making sure to link back to his/her niche website. He/she then starts emailing ad calling relevant website owners and offers them a joint venture, a 50/50 split of all profit coming in from their website. He/she then posts on marketing forums, looking for people with lists that are relevant to the niche, and offers a joint venture, and offers a great split for any leads generated.
If the niche is something that f.ex. visitors to a mall, or students at a college would be interested in, he/she prints out fliers and either puts them on cars, or hands them out on campus to sell the product. Of course, the real smart one outsources a lot of all this work as soon as some sales are coming in.
This is just the beginning, but who do you think will make more money?
Don’t just do what everybody else is doing, go the extra step, go crazy. It’s a numbers game, it’s like looking through a bucket of oysters, you never know if the pearl is in the 2nd, 53rd, or 100th oyster… but it’s there! You will get tons of no’s, but you will also find people who say yes, and then you’ll have partnerships for new products and ventures.
Always think “how can I improve this, how can I make it even better, what can I add.” Building a business, or an online income is something that takes time. Forget all those crappy ebooks about making so and so much money in 3 days… It’s most likely not going to happen, unless you know what you’re doing. Could a competent marketer with no money to invest make $30,000 in 3 days? Absolutely, but not by himself/herself. That person would set up joint ventures, give away most of the pie, but use the results to generate even more results.
If you’re absolutely new, read up on different ways of marketing, ask questions in the forum, we are here to help you! We want you to be successful, but we can only lead you to the water, you have to drink it yourself.
–Sam
it seems like there is no one true way to make money on websites/blogs