Internet Marketing Misconceptions

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Internet marketing is often viewed by inexperienced marketers as a quick way to make a lot of money. The truth is that with Internet marketing, just like all marketing, you need to work hard to get results.

As with anything worthwhile, becoming an effective Internet marketer takes a great deal of time and a lot of trial and error before you succeed. There are many misconceptions about Internet marketing that are worth addressing here and should be heeded.

You don’t have to be an expert in your field

You need to understand your own field. You really need to put out valuable information online that makes others view you as a subject matter expert (SME). If you are not totally secure in your knowledge, you can do research and use supporting references that will help you to build your own professional reputation. This is totally not true. Once you have positioned yourself as an SME, you can branch out and share topics that are in other industries.

Internet marketing is so easy that everyone can do it

If you have the feeling that successful Internet marketing is so simple, you are setting yourself up for potential failure. Remember that this sort of campaign takes a great deal of effort and you need to have a mindset that allows you to learn a lot. You need to be receptive to new concepts as they come along.

It is so difficult that hardly anyone succeeds at Internet marketing

You absolutely can succeed although it will take a lot of hard work. You need to distinguish your talents and expertise from the talents and expertise of numerous other business owners. You have the potential to not only learn how to successfully run an Internet marketing campaign but to really make it sing. It is critical that you learn how to identify the needs of other people, sometimes even before they are aware of what they need.

You will start to make money right away

As has already been stated, Internet marketing takes a significant amount of work. It is very important for you to devote a great deal of time learning everything that you need to learn. Remember that your success is totally dependent on you. You will get out of it what you put in to it. You will eventually begin to see the fruits of your labor in the form of revenue.

You will not make money at all

The best way for your business to succeed as a result of your Internet marketing campaign is to contribute content consistently and in a disciplined manner. If you have the mentality that it will take some time before you see the benefits of your hard work, you will start to earn a large amount of money.

It is not necessary to devote more than a little time to Internet marketing each week

This statement is actually true but it needs to be qualified. You can devote less time to your Internet marketing campaign only after you have gotten very comfortable with the process. In the beginning, however, you will probably see that you are spending several hours each week on your Internet marketing campaign. The saving grace is that eventually you will be able to automate a large amount of your online marketing efforts.

It will take you years to really learn how to conduct business on the Internet

This is basically a false statement. If you work hard at learning all that you need to learn to be able to see your Internet marketing campaign start to pay off early on, you will be up and running quickly and you will not negatively affect the quality of your messaging. It is recommended that you read articles and newsletters, join online communities and pay close attention to other people who have already achieved success in the Internet marketing field. This will help you to get up to speed pretty quickly.

Internet marketing is a serious business initiative. Many people realize this. However, there are some skeptical people who are not quite sold on it yet. There are some people who are so traditional and conservative in their thinking that they cannot possibly accept the idea that you can become a booming success by conducting business at home in your pajamas.

If you have a business model with a solid foundation and you stick to your plan, you are bound to succeed. There are various money-making schemes out there, including some Internet marketing schemes. However, carefully planned and executed Internet marketing campaigns are certainly legitimate and worthwhile. Those campaigns are a modern, sensible, and intelligent approach to doing business in a world where technology has such a strong presence that the marketing had to be customized to fit the technology.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. Please contact us at CompuKol Communications for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team.

Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

2 Responses

  1. Mary Mangold says:

    Thank you for this excellent article.  With the new trends in self publishing, many small and medium size businesses want the website,  but fall short of expending any effort – in addition to the common misconception that a website is somehow a magic carpet ride.  
    As a freelance web designer and web services provider, I've been touting the same messages for years to customers and the evidence of success definitely goes to site owners who have mustered up the courage to be consistent over the long haul.  The basic message:     set goals, learn the skills, outline a plan, apply hard work and effort, and continue to innovate and promote your online presence through self publishing and the success will follow. 

  2. Woody Other says:

    Moving from traditional marketing to internet marketing is a lot going through rehabilitation and learning to walk again.