I promise this will be a marketing post, but I’m going to use a few real life – non-marketing examples – to make my point.

Having never heard of Susan Boyle before my father sent me an email of her YouTube audition, I never dreamed I’d get this wrapped up in a show that isn’t even based where I live (the U.S.). I know there are millions of American Idol fans out there, but I’ve just never gotten into the whole AI thing. Frankly, it is the (American) judging team that turns me off, particularly Simon Crowell (when he’s in the United States). However, in Britain on BGT, Simon turns into a completely different person. He’s insightful, helpful, and a nice guy… go figure.

But this isn’t about Simon, this is about fame coming too fast, cold feet, internet marketing (yes I promised), and examples of what happens when you don’t really think things through.

Back to my Susan Boyle example. I absolutely adore the woman and hope she’s having (or soon will have) a nice, peaceful, quiet, regular day again. Here’s living proof that when you are rushed to center stage, the trauma and drama of such an event does one of two things – it either makes you a media-loving hog wanting more and more attention or it makes you want to crawl under your bed and not come out until it all goes away.

So my question this Sunday to you is… what type of person are you? And yes, I’m headed into the internet marketing arena now.

I watch so many people make really bad choices expecting and believing every word they read – that they can and will become “overnight successes” and “immensely wealthy” by doing absolutely nothing to earn it.

I also see many people get frustrated or angry when – after doing very, very little and seeing no results – they start blaming everything and everyone around them. Except, of course, themselves.

When you join a program, you must:

o Figure out what category you fall into – my comparison to BGT or American Idol is a good one. Are you a singer, dancer, musician, or variety act when it comes to the internet marketing program you are most interested in? You need to know what your talent is, what your strengths are, and not necessarily follow the crowd. Being original will be your biggest hedge against failure online.

o Join not just for the money – when you do join purely for the idea of making money off a “sure bet” (there is no such thing) then you are almost guaranteed to be very upset when you don’t achieve the results as posted on the sales page.

o Read and understand before you sign up – granted you cannot always see what exactly you’re getting into, but there’s this lovely thing called a search engine (Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.) where you can head first. Do your homework and investigate the program. You will see pros and cons, and you’ll need to see past the people online that just put everything down, but investigation first, money second.

o Remember that if it sounds too good to be true… This doesn’t mean you can’t make a decent go of it, just be realistic. You are not the program owner who is the one getting the most benefits not you.  However, assuming you haven’t picked just any old fly by night to promote, then…

o Give it everything you’ve got. Enter into the program, promote the product or service with everything you can throw at it. Sending one ezine ad or contacting your Twitter or Facebook friends once isn’t going to make you a millionaire overnight or ever.

o Stop joining other programs, too. We see too many people signing up for too many things. When you join more than one program to start – or find more than one product initially to give it your all – you are spreading yourself too thin. Make your first (well researched) choice your top priority. Then, when it’s in the black, you might consider adding another. “Multiple streams of income” is a good idea, but think of it like a buffet. Piling everything you see on your (first?) plate at a buffet is very common. But when you get to the table you realize there’s no way you’re going to finish it all. So that wasted food ends up in a dumpster somewhere. So, too, with internet marketing. You will be wasting your time and money if you don’t heed this advice.

Back to my tv show/cold feet analogy…

Everything takes time. Even television shows with much more money at their disposal than the average internet marketer, take time to catch on.

Fact: Britain’s Got Talent has been on TV for five years, yet it wasn’t until this season that they broke all records with “An amazing 19.19 million viewers – that’s more than 71% of people tuned into any TV show – tuned into ITV1…”

Five years. If you do your homework, you’ll likely discover that most of the really successful internet marketers started 5-10 years ago building their reputations. Sure they made money along the way, proved to themselves, “yes I can,” but the point is time… longevity was, and still is, required of you.

Internet marketing of any sort requires stamina in the forms of your time, money, and attention. How many reading this have put time and effort into something only to (perhaps) have backed out at just the wrong moment?

If you’re sure of your choice, follow through. Take every free resource at your disposal, set a budget you can faithfully stick to each month for the paid marketing methods (also requiring investigation), and keep at it.

Doing something once, not seeing results, and throwing up your hands and quitting means you’ve gotten cold feet. You’re unsure of yourself, your next move, your ability to commit.

If this sounds like you, our best advice is you do not belong on the internet trying to make money. Please reconsider, do not quit your day job, and/or start and/or continue job hunting. If you’re looking for steady income to start immediately less than 1% of the people online will achieve it. The rest, 99%, willing to stay the course have a good chance to make it – in time.

EXTRA SPECIAL NOTE: The links above marked “dancer,” “singer,” and “musician” will take you to some truly amazing YouTube videos.

o A 12 year old drummer who’s only been playing for a year;

o A 10 year old with a voice you are not going to believe; and

o A dance group whose synchronization and tons of hard work really paid off.

Use them as role models for your morale boost. BUT, keep in mind only ONE of them came out on top to win the competition.

Do you have what it takes when it comes to internet marketing to be #1?

Tags: advice, American Idol, analogy, britains got talent, expectation, failure, google, insights, internet, longevity, marketers, marketing, susan boyle, twitter, video, yahoo, youtube

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.