The whole topic of internet marketing has plenty of hype and scams associated with it. This is also true when it comes to information marketing online since you are using internet marketing to promote your information!
Unfortunately there are lies that still catch people out today. I believe that one of reasons is that when we first decide that we want to make money online and have an online business we want it straight away! So we condition ourselves to believe that it can happen fast!
This means that when we go looking for ideas and methods we subconsciously look for quick ways to success. This mindset then opens us up to a whole load of other lies about information marketing.
Here are some of the lies that I have been exposed to in the past and even today, that I want to make sure you hear the truth about.
1. Quick Riches
This is not true. Overnight success does not happen – unless you are extremely lucky – but you won’t be able to repeat that luck long term!
Since there have been a few lucky cases of overnight success, people are desperate to believe that it can happen to them and if they follow a “quick riches” method then they can start making money straight away.
Think about this.
If it was true then why would there be so many different ways of making money online?
If there was one way to make money really quickly and it worked every single time then everyone would be doing it!
Reality Check
There are many different methods to make money online. One of those is information marketing. It works but it takes time. There are also many different methods or blueprints that work but in the end you need to find out your own unique path.
All proven blueprints, mine included, are based on certain principles and concepts that work. Then we find our own way of implementing those concepts in a way that fits in with our own personality, circumstances and business model.
And that takes time. It takes time and perseverance to test and know for sure that your system is working and will continue to do so long term.
2. No Effort Is Needed
We all know deep down that this can not be true. If you do nothing then nothing gets done! It seems odd to me that we use an action word “to do” with regard to the word nothing! 🙂
Think about an olympic athlete – they get to where they are because they work hard, consistently.
There is no easy path to success whether it be fitness, weight loss, business, musical, education, etc. It all takes work.
I think that people see successful marketers only working 2 hours a day or even a week and therefore believe it must be easy!
Reality Check
The success we see in a moment of time – in that instant – is the result of hours and hours of work. The first part of any endeavour is the hardest and takes the most amount of effort.
Therefore the first part of building your information business is going to take a lot of effort. Laying the foundation takes time.
After you have a foundation in place such as a product, an email campaign, a list, some traffic – you can begin to focus on specific areas and the amount of overall effort might begin to ease a little.
You can have an online business and only work a few hours a day – but it still takes effort and there will be times when need to input more effort to see the same level of progress.
3. You Don’t Need Your Own Products
Well you can make money online selling affiliate products – I know because that is how I first started making money. However, if you want a business and by that I mean something that you can count on, something substantial, then you really do need to create your own products.
Think about how you might have learned affiliate marketing.
Who from?
An affiliate marketer?
You probably did.
Well, if you stop to think about it – why create a product showing others how to do what you are doing if you are making a full time income anyway?
Obviously you want to help others to do the same as you have but if you ask anyone who has taken the step and created their own product – the income generated from their own product is much more than that generated from affiliate products.
Reality Check
For comparison purposes let us assume that in the following example the product is on the same topic and the same price. Also we will assume it is an information product and therefore digital, with a higher commission rate than a physical product.
If you create a product and sell it for $20 when 1 person buys it you make $20.
If you promote a $20 affiliate product and earn 70% commission then when 1 persons buys it you make $14
Now let’s suppose you want to make $1000 a month. How many $20 items would you need to sell in each scenario?
Product Creator
You would need to sell 50 each month
Affiliate Marketer
You would need to sell 71 each month
That’s an extra 21 customers every month.
How much more effort will that take?
How much more traffic would you need?
How many more subscribers would you need?
Can you begin to see that the effort spent creating your own product is effort saved when it comes to generating customers!
Not only that but the more products you have, higher priced ones, recurring payment ones, the more money you can make per customer as well!
4. Don’t Choose A Competitive Niche
This one sounds logical. The more competition the harder it is to get traffic and therefore make sales. That’s true.
However, there is another side to the coin.
If there is a lot of competition, it usually means that there is a huge demand in that niche. This means lots and lots of buyers.
You can choose a niche with fewer buyers and less competition or one with a lot more buyers and a lot of competition.
Competition is a good thing.
It’s good when it comes to athletics, interviewees, energy companies, super markets, authors, etc.
We all have our own individual tastes and standards. One product that is a perfect fit for one person may not be a fit for you.
Information marketing is the ideal business model when it comes to competition.
We all consume information differently and we all prefer certain styles over others. When you create your own information products you bring a new perspective into the market – a uniqueness that was lacking before.
Reality Check
Think about the internet and the number of users using it everyday. Could you really saturate a market?
Does an author simply give up writing because there are 1000’s upon 1000’s of books already written about that subject?
Markets have to keep up with customer demand. The more demand there is the more variety is necessary.