Many small business owners make the mistake of using the wrong type of marketing for their business.
For example, did you know there is a huge difference between Internet marketing sites and marketing sites? Well, there is. If you’re using ideas from the wrong type of site, you’re wasting your time and your money. As you will see from an example I am about to share, if you get it wrong it will seriously damage your business too.
First, here’s what you need to know about these VERY different types of marketing site.
Internet marketing sites
Internet marketing sites focus on how to make money online and have well-known Internet marketing gurus behind them. Here’s how to spot them: They mainly sell (and show you how to sell), software, online marketing courses, digital products, etc. The BIG get rich quick product right now is online courses.
They usually market their products to you… AND show you how to make money, doing what they do. That’s why there are so many of these sites out there. They are intended for people who want to sell low priced, Internet only products or services.
Marketing sites
Marketing sites, including Jim’s Marketing Blog, are a lot less common. They focus on ideas to help you increase sales and grow a successful business. Most, like my own, don’t cover affiliate marketing or make money online products or services at all.
The wrong type of marketing for an accountant
I was prompted to write about this, after being emailed by a new reader. She’s an accountant, who started her business just over a year ago. She contacted me after a marketing consultant identified why her marketing wasn’t working. She wanted me to share her experience with you, to stop others from making the same expensive mistake.
Here’s an excerpt from her email, published with her permission:
“I read a ton of big name marketing blogs and did what they said; at least the things that seemed to make sense to me. Anyhow I invested over $2000 on a bunch of marketing software, on-line courses and forum memberships. None worked for me. Finally I instructed a local marketing guy to get expert help. He took a look at my website and emails and said “woah!!”
[…] He explained that I had been marketing my service like some nasty affiliate product!!”
She ended up with a site that’s hurting her business and damaging her professional reputation. I took a look at her site and here’s what I saw:
- Pop-up boxes.
- Blog comments from affiliate marketers, using SEO loaded keywords instead of their names.
- Nasty looking ads for 2 affiliate products.
- Sensationalist blog post headlines, designed to attract drive-by readers.
- Pinch pages, to sell her services.
- An automated Twitter account, which she told me is part of a Twitter resharing network.
All in all, she had wasted thousands and done nothing more than make her site look cheap. She’s now in the process of unpicking a year’s worth of damage to her reputation and her business.
Use the right type of marketing for your business
The type of marketing used to sell cheap software, get rich online crap or affiliate products, is totally different from the kind of marketing required to sell your services. The level of trust required to hire a coach, accountant, lawyer, designer, therapist or consultant is huge.
When a service provider wants to attract new, high quality clients, the make money online approach to marketing is not only ineffective, it’s toxic.
Match the marketing you use, to the type of business you want. Unless you sell Internet marketing products or affiliate products, think twice before using ideas from Internet marketing sites.