The Evil Allure of Internet Marketing

There’s a certain allure to having a website that pays you while you’re sleeping. And when things are going well with an online business, it CAN be quite intoxicating.

But in my discussions with clients and potential clients who are interested in making money online and/or are very frustrated about NOT making money online (in spite of their honest efforts), I have observed that some folks have adopted a notion that it’s all supposed to be so easy and fast.

Most people seem to have no difficulty embracing the concept that starting a traditional (non-internet) business requires a lot of hard work. Why might they think differently regarding an online business?

My opinion is that the widely available “get rich quick” educational courses that comprise the “Internet Marketing Information Business” have fostered an unreal expectation among otherwise intelligent folks. The marketing and selling of information products about Internet marketing is a massive industry with huge profit margins. The ugly truth is that the primary purchasers of this information – newcomers to the world of marketing in general – are simply making the sellers rich. In other words, it’s a perverse reversal of outward appearance.

People who know nothing about marketing are spending thousands of dollars on courses to make the sellers of the information wealthy. And then the buyers, who were enticed by how easily they would be able to get rich, are then confronted with the daunting task of consuming, deciphering and mostly applying the information.

NOTE: I am not saying that the information, per se, is bad or evil. I’ve been in the marketing technology industry since the mid 90’s and I consume quite a bit of this information on an ongoing basis. In spite of all my experience, I’m continually learning more (which keeps the industry exciting and challenging). To emphasize the point, I’m a huge advocate of increasing one’s knowledge through education and training.

What I decry is the circus-like atmosphere that has integrated itself within the marketing profession, founded upon a promotion of the notion that “ANYONE can get rich on the Internet if they buy my course!”

The Internet and the many related marketing technologies are simply new media channels. The principles of marketing, and for that matter, any business at all – providing a good product or service for a price that others will pay – have not changed.

In some regards, the use if Internet marketing technologies has made things more complex, since there are more new things to learn and since most any kind of business CAN benefit from applying Internet marketing principles.

Just as at any other point in history, marketing is a primary driver of business and profit. That has always been the case, and it’s just as true today as it has always been.

What has been distorted is that a whole body of Internet marketing technology, which does require some specialized knowledge, has been promoted as something that is as easy as eating apple pie.

The good news is, that the barrier to entry to starting an online business is low. But to succeed, one still needs to invest a considerable amount of sweat equity (time, study, trial and error) as one would in any other business.

More good news is that for anyone who already has an off-line business, learning more about leveraging Internet marketing technologies to increase your earnings can be very fruitful. But even so, it’s not automatic. There’s a learning process that one would need to evolve through.

Conversely, you can also hire someone else to help you, or to do the work for you.

In conclusion, I urge anyone interested in the subject of Internet marketing to study, and especially, to apply the principles that they are learning. But if you do so with the notion of instant success and overnight riches with very little effort, you are merely perverting the intrinsic value of what’s in front of you.

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1. How Simple and Easy is Online Marketing and Affiliate Advertising? | SkyworksMarketing.com — August 31, 2009 @ 2:06 pm

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