Archive | May, 2023

You could not be blamed if you think a blog exists to inform and entertain its readers. After all, a blog really isn’t much different than a magazine, right? And a magazine exists to inform and entertain its readers. Right?

Actually, this is the exact point where many information marketers go horribly wrong.

Let’s pull up a quote from an ad executive named James Collins:

“There is still an illusion to the effect that a magazine is a periodical in which advertising is incidental. But we don’t look at it that way. A magazine is simply a device to induce people to read advertising. It is a large booklet with two departments – entertainment and business. The entertainment department finds stories, pictures, verse, etc. to interest the public. The business department makes the money.”

James Collins said that in ’07.

That is, 1907.

And it’s as true today as it was then. Maybe even more so, with the advent of the Internet.

Why do websites make you click links to read the following pages in an article, rather than putting it all on one page??

Why do websites make lists of “The Top 20 __” and then make you scroll through each one, rather than putting the entire list on one page? It’s to expose you, the reader, to more ads. If you have to go to 3 different pages or 20 different slides to finish an article, you’re exposed to 3 times or even 20 times the number of ads.

As a content marketer, you must focus on two things:

Providing interesting content. It could be entertaining or informative or both, so long as it captures and holds attention. But the content isn’t what’s keeping you in profit – it’s the products you’re selling. Content is simply a means to a sale.

Making a profit. This profit could come from ads on the page, or products you promote, or even products you create and sell.

One business, two functions: Entertainment and business.

When you view your business in this light, everything becomes much more clear. You suddenly know what it is that you have to do, and more importantly, what you don’t have to do.

Look at it this way: The only purpose for your content (blog posts, articles, podcasts, free ebooks, tweets, posts, etc.) is to gather the specific audience you want.

So you choose your audience and then tailor your content accordingly.

Now then, ideally you want your audience to sign up to your email list. This makes it far easier to do the business side of your business. Otherwise you are dependent on readers to click your ads or buy your products. But with a list, you can send emails to your prospects promoting products they can buy.

Your focus should be on turning every reader you can into a subscriber. And when you do, you offer them whatever it is that they already want.

Find out their desires and sell them the solutions and products they already want. Don’t try to forge new paths by educating your audience on what they “should” want. This is an uphill battle you will lose. Instead, discover what they already desire and also how they like to be sold. Then act accordingly.

Remember: Your content is simply a device to induce people to read and act upon your marketing. It’s that simple.

As you know, there is a lot of money to be made in working with offline businesses. If they don’t have a site you can build one for them. If they have a site but it’s not mobile friendly, you can build them a mobile site. If they’re not doing video, you can do that for them. If they’re not building a list, you can get that started for them and so forth. The possibilities are nearly endless, and there’s tons of support on how to do it.

But here’s the sticking point for most online marketers: They do not want to go out and talk to business owners.

So if you’re one of those who prefers to stay at your desk, then how can you cash in on offline marketing? Simple – hire a salesperson. Pay that person a commission such as 50% of profits or a straight 25% off the top. This way you only pay when you make money.

And if you don’t want to be the one to provide the services, you can always outsource that as well.

This is a great side business for marketers. You’re still free to focus on your online business, diverting your attention to offline only when there is a sale. And it’s a great opportunity for the sales person, because they can pursue it in their spare time.

And if you’re outsourcing the work, you probably only need to spend a few hours per week to make this work.

There’s an expression that the first million dollars is the hardest to earn. It’s also true that your first business is the hardest to start. But once you’ve got one business, why not branch out and create a second business?

If you do, you’ll have another revenue stream, as well as added security. After all, if you have two different lists and two different sets of products and something happens to one, you’ve still got the other.

You’ll also find that by expanding into a new business, you’ll get your old enthusiasm back. Remember when you started your first business, how exciting it was? You can have that excitement again by starting something new.

And then there’s cross promotion. Choose your second business correctly and you can market your second business’ product to the customers of your first business, and vice versa.

So let’s say you sell info products to the dating market – how about starting a dating app business, too?

Or maybe you sell financial products, like how to invest money. You could branch out to how to make money, and sell those products to your investment list, and so forth.

You might think you won’t have the time or possibly the skills to take on a second business. But no worries – just outsource the work. And remember, the true money maker in business and in marketing is creative thinking. You can always get someone else to handle the details for you.