Internet marketing, website marketing, call it what you will, can be a bit like a maze. You charge off down one route......dead end. Someone sends you off down another route with a big smile on their face.......another dead end. Another route looks promising.......until it fizzles out and you reach another dead end. You can't cheat by looking over the hedge, it's about 20 feet high! A big ladder so you can get a good view? No, they've all been hidden. None left on the planet! Except those in the vaults of the internet gurus, you suspect.
So, you keep going around this maze, and at every turn there's advertising, all about the maze itself, telling you about which way to go. Plans of the maze which, if you follow, may get you half way round, only to find you need to buy another plan to get the rest of the way. So what do you do? Carry on around this maze unaided? Or buy another plan? You buy another plan of this maze, and lo and behold, you end up at a place somewhere near the exit into real open daylight (you think), but how do you get the correct final few turns? Anyway, maybe you're not near the exit after all? You could be on the far side of the maze from the exit. Sound familiar?
If you've been researching the internet from a business point of view for any length of time, you have probably found that much of the advertising, the marketing, is about ................. internet marketing. This is partly why it can seem like a maze. If you are not sure what is going to work to market your website, or the products in it, how do you know which advice to listen too, which "offers" to take up?
Why is Internet Marketing Such a Maze?
Marketing is a subject I've been interested in for many years, long before I was partner in an advertising related business in the early 90's. Then, marketing was a quite stable world. The most recent "change" of any significance had been TV, and TV advertising had evolved steadily over several decades. It was glossy, glamorous, and...........very expensive. That was good for the big advertising agencies, and they chased the big advertisers with massive budgets for TV advertising. They had their creative departments to come up with memorable TV ads, often designed to be memorable rather than to sell, and their media buyers to buy time on the commercial TV stations.
The glamour was in TV, but every company and every agency would work on a marketing mix: radio advertising, sales promotions, glossy magazine advertising, newspaper advertising, trade ads, direct mail.....all played their part. These all had one thing in common, though: they had been around for a very long time. Marketing was a stable industry, not in economic terms, but in the "tricks of the trade". There were a few minor variations here and there, but basically, the marketing industry had its accepted, well documented, ways of doing things. Skill levels varied of course, and that's where competition came in between the agencies and between companies in the same industries. The point is, though, it was all basically stable. Good or bad, it was stable.
Then along came the internet. Being involved in advertising in the mid 90's, it was obvious to me that the potential was absolutely enormous. Mind boggling. It was difficult to demonstrate, though, as speeds were painfully slow. You'd try to show someone over a cup of coffee or tea, and you'd finish the drink while the second page was loading. Try coming back in 5 years. Well, they did. With a vengeance.
The internet itself came on in leaps and bounds after that. Technically it developed rapidly. Companies started to realise they "had" to have an internet presence. Why? Well, often because their competitor did, or because they thought they should before their competitor did. They were diving in, pretty much blind; they did not understand what they were getting into. The stock markets cottoned on that something big was in the offing, so .com shares were being touted to ever higher levels. Shares of companies with no substance in most cases.
I used to trade shares on a daily basis in those days, and I never touched one internet related company. I cringed every time I saw the financial figures of a listed .com. Prices of shares were often in the stratosphere while turnover was meagre and profits non existent, then and into the future. The traders in the London Stock Exchange and Wall Street did not understand. The internet was new, there was no history to go on. They simply did not understand. They were excited, and were exciting others too. The buying was frantic. The crash inevitable.
Companies all over the world were realising, though, that they must have a web presence. Companies had marketing departments and/or advertising agencies. So they too had to go along with the the tidal wave of internet anticipation. What did they do? They followed the accepted patterns for marketing in those days. TV advertising. Radio advertising. Big newspaper ads. The massive costs of those methods bore no relationship then to the potential for additional income, for sales. They were throwing money down the drain in most cases. Why? They simply did not understand!
The internet was, and is, a revolution in communications. But the marketing industry had not had a revolution, it was too bogged down in the rest of the marketing mix to realise what was really going on here. The printing press was a revolution in communications, but it took many years to spread its influence. Radio was a revolution in communications; likewise. TV? Likewise.
The internet has been more like an explosion, and after an explosion it takes time for the dust to settle. That's one of the reasons for the maze of internet marketing. The dust is still settling. You can't see through the dust yet. More of a haze than a maze I suppose! No, a maze in a haze!
Roy Thomsitt is owner and author of http://www.change-direction.com
A joint venture is when two or more businesses work... Read More
What is direct marketing? Put simply, direct marketing is a... Read More
I was writing the final chapter of my book on... Read More
When the economy is booming, you may do well in... Read More
There are books and web sites for the translation of... Read More
There is one piece of software that is always going... Read More
The web site marketing you use to promote your Internet... Read More
According to Google.com there are over three billion web pages... Read More
Everyday I talk with people who want to get started... Read More
I started as an internet marketer, like I am sure... Read More
Exchanging links has been an important part of generating traffic... Read More
The Internet has opened up a whole new era of... Read More
Thousands and thousands of people are striving to make more... Read More
How many times have I heard literal horror stories from... Read More
People ask me this question all the time! The "Now... Read More
The world of Internet marketing isn't all it's cracked up... Read More
It is a purely shocking statistic, that only 4 in... Read More
Yes folks, there is a way of making absolutely certain-sure... Read More
Do you have a website but seem puzzled to how... Read More
Here are 10 killer website marketing tactics to boost your... Read More
Today I was optimizing a couple new websites for search... Read More
The internet and associated technology changes at a relatively fast... Read More
I've just spent 3 hours surfing the web and found... Read More
Would you like to accelerate profits at your website?Here are... Read More
Finding the right Internet marketing technique that works best for... Read More
If you haven't heard the word 'niche' being batted around... Read More
I recently posted an article titled "Internet Marketing and Public... Read More
Dear Cathy:I just found an interesting article on someone else's... Read More
You've probably know many answers to this question: a good... Read More
With each new Internet Marketing (IM) Guru, there comes a... Read More
I know most of us have held our own online... Read More
Over my years of experience in doing business on the... Read More
Product creation is usually one of the first concerns of... Read More
Be a Winner! Answer the Challenge! An e-course is a... Read More
Before trying to define the term of eMarketing (or electronic... Read More
Regardless of what you're trying to sell, you can't sell... Read More
Remember those Super Bowl and World Cup commercials where you... Read More
The product is about teaching your parrot how to talk.... Read More
If you are sending out a periodic email newsletter, no... Read More
"It's a labor of love." That's how I've always described... Read More
Overcome lackluster copy and lack of product sales by using... Read More
It is not enough to set up a website to... Read More
I am going to let you in on a secret?... Read More
Hey, I just noticed something. I've been sitting here filling... Read More
Web marketers see it all of the time.Companies of every... Read More
One day I was talking to a friend who had... Read More
The most optimistic success rate I have run across for... Read More
There are lots of ads for lots of product out... Read More
How many times have you heard that posting on FFA... Read More
What is a Joint Venture?How can this online marketing and... Read More
In this article, "product" means any tangible product, digital products... Read More
The number one concern for Internet sales is your marketing... Read More
It was supposed to happen in thirty days. Buy the... Read More
If you are considering launching a website for your business... Read More
I'd like to let you in on a little secret... Read More
Although many say that things change on the net, still... Read More
Since most of the businesses throughout the world have access... Read More
Whether you're a service business working to obtain clients, a... Read More
If you have ever wanted to know HOW the Internet... Read More
The market world is increasingly becoming specialized. Instead of offering... Read More
Impulse shopping in the checkout lane may be what drives... Read More
You know that using testimonials can help persuade your website... Read More
When you run an online home-based business, your web site... Read More
So many times, online business owners are confused about where... Read More
Online advertising traffic leaves when advertisers don't make it... Read More
There is a trend going on in the world of... Read More
Internet Marketing |