As a beginner, the first steps to becoming an internet marketer should be that you need to evaluate your own skill-set, what you can bring to the table, how you can put your own unique twist on existing products, and how you can harness your own creativity to eventually create new products all your own that have never released before OR if they have, you will offer them in a whole new way, while adding additional value to each and every single one.
One of the things I have seen many, many times, are newbies venturing into the industry and cloning the actions of those who are seasoned and seemingly knowledgeable.
From robotic responses, to cut and paste answers straight from the text book of “Marketing 101”, they try their hardest to replicate the brand of others, and with it, entire personalities and back-stories are created that stretch the imagination and to the more seasoned, sound absolutely ridiculous.
Remember, you can ruin a reputation faster than you can ever create one. However, you are going to avoid making this mistake, because instead of trying to be exactly like the experts you may look up to, you are going to focus on creating your own signature brand, something that people come to know you for, and remember you by. Think about the top names in the industry. Each and every one of them, whether they use their real names , a variation, alias, or a fictional character altogether, are known for specific things.
If you do not brand yourself as an expert in a specific niche, you become the Jack of all Trades, the Master of None and people will NOT remember you, or ever recognize you as an authority on a specific subject. This is a very important thing to consider, so don’t overlook it. People have failed miserably because they entered the Internet Marketing world believing that they could be the resident know-it-all.
Someone claiming to be a programmer should focus on releasing programming related products. Someone who is a copywriter should offer related services. This doesn’t mean that you can’t do other things, but when you initially start developing your reputation (and credibility), you NEED to brand yourself as primarily, an expert on a specific market or subject. After you are established, you can move into other areas. The Rich Jerk is also another example of good branding. Love him or hate him, you recognize him by his mascot and his brand instantly. While he takes a completely opposite approach in how he speaks to his community than Patrick Pretty does, he is equally as memorable. In addition to branding yourself this way, you also need to brand yourself as someone who is knowledgeable about a specific subject. You want to become the ‘go-to’ guy/gal whenever someone asks about a certain topic.
Here are a few quick examples:
- If you think of John Reese, what comes to mind? If you have followed the Internet Marketing forums, your answer was probably traffic.
- If you think of Paul Myers, you probably associate him with newsletters and writing.
- If you think of Michel Fortin, copy writing is most likely the very first thing that comes to mind.
You need people to associate your name and brand with a specific skill or market. In fact, this is the very first task you must complete as a newbie marketer. Think about what you want to be known for, what skill you want to focus on, what media or niche market you want to dominate and eventually, become the expert in.
If you determine that, right from the start, your entire transition from newbie to professional will be a lot easier to achieve, since regardless of your experience (or lack of) with certain subject matter, you will need to put the time into researching and studying as much as you can about it.
This is why it’s very important to decide, early on, just what you plan to tackle.
Decide… and then tackle it! You can do it! Trust yourself!
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