I’ve just been watching a presentation by internet marketer, Chris Farrell. Chris was formerly a radio presenter in London before deciding on a change of direction. He moved to the USA where he discovered internet marketing and has become very successful in his second career.
His explanation of how he runs his business was very clear and reinforced many of the issues raised by other presentations I have seen. He began with the statement that “All Skills Are Learnable” and that there is nothing to fear in internet marketing if you are prepared to accept that fact and work to learn the new skill set required. It can be quite daunting to be faced with setting up an online business and realising just what you don’t know and what you are going to need to learn. I remember all too well that feeling myself. I was fired up by the obvious potential of the business but rather overwhelmed by what I was going to need to do to make it work for me.
When it came to the actual business plan he itemised it in the form of just Three Steps. Those steps are:
- Find a profitable Niche
- Build a List of people interested in this profitable niche
- Market related products to your List
That all sounds familiar. It doesn’t matter who you listen to or how often you hear the message it is more or less the same every time; – so it must be right!
One idea, new to me, regarded finding your niche. His suggestion was to go to a magazine outlet and browse the topics supported by magazine publications. These must be areas where there were many people prepared to spend money to get information to feed their interest, or there would be no magazines on that subject. That had never occurred to me; a simple but very effective way to hit on a productive niche. It fits beautifully with the first step of marketing, which is to find a niche which has a hungry group of people prepared to spend their money to support their passion. QED – as we always had to put on our geometry solutions when I was at school.
His second point is, yet again, a crucial part of internet marketing. You will probably have heard the saying, “The money is in the List”. Building and maintaining a list of customers is at the very heart of what all internet marketers do. The list is maintained by the regular release of useful free information, relevant web links, videos, newsletters, etc. so those on your list look forward to receiving emails from you. They will identify you by your email address and subject line and, therefore, open your mail.
Point three follows neatly on from this as you will periodically inform your list of any new products or offers that you have available. The take up will far, far outstrip any cold selling you might do.
There is nothing new in Chris Farrell’s presentation but it does, yet again, reinforce the simple process of marketing online. So, don’t be put off by the new things you may face in setting up your business. Remember Chris’s assertion that “All Skills Are Learnable”. Acquire the skills, apply the Three Steps and you will have a profitable business.