I “overheard” an interesting twitter conversation recently. Two marketers were discussing fun facts, when one dropped a bombshell.
Back in the nineties when he started his online business, this marketer encountered a guy named Jeff Bezos on a forum. Bezos had started an online bookstore called Amazon Books, and he was thinking about opening it up for affiliate marketing. What did everyone think?
Wow!
Little did any of those know that today Jeff Bezos would be one of the richest men in the world. And largely because of the affiliate marketing he was discussing.
By affiliate marketing, Bezos had opened his business to friends – and friends’ friends. And on and on until he reached the tipping point.
This conversation started my mind popping. What if he had decided not to affiliate market?
Let’s look at another scenario…
What if Jeff Bezos had opened up a Book Rack Kiosk at one end of a mall in mid America? Where would he be today?
True, he has an excellent product – with great delivery and customer service. But without the visibility he received through marketing, Amazon.com would never have reached its present position.
Marketing is key for the success of any business – and especially for one that’s on the internet.
So we put up our blogs or websites. We work hard to make sure that they look beautiful and that they work properly. We add special themes and plugins. We solicit the aid of sophisticated software.
But for this to be successful, somebody has to come and buy. If nobody notices, we are just playing. If nobody comes, it’s a hobby. And it can grow to be an expensive hobby.
On the other hand, all of this work can be the foundation for a very successful business. One which is successful and prosperous. One which makes us lots of money. One which provides lots of satisfaction and reward for our efforts.
Out in that digital world there are enough clients and customers for all of us to have very successful businesses. When we learn how to reach out for them and let them know we are here, they will want what we have to offer. Then when we give them great benefit, they will be loyal customers.
So what do we do?
As always, we start with a vision and a plan. We look at the many marketing strategies which can work for us, and we decide how we are going to activate them.
We will start where we can, and we grow from there.
The main questions we ask ourselves are Where do we want to be in a year? In 5 years? And What do we have to do to get there?
My recommendation is that every day you “do” something to move forward your marketing goals. Whether it’s writing a blog post, engaging on Social Media, sending out a publicity pitch, or fine tuning your SEO.
It’s the everyday engagement and not a once-in-awhile big splash which makes things happen. (I know this from experience).
So do this..
Begin each day with purpose and determination, keeping focused on your goals.
As a Christian, I like to start my day with prayer. I know that God wants me to be successful in every endeavor, so I thank Him for His guidance and direction. I also thank Him for the people He is helping me to connect with, and for the opportunities which are becoming available.
I pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I also listen and attempt to stay focused on His direction.
I pray that I will not yield to distractions, but that I will be certain which doors are opening for me. I also pray for my creativity to flow in all of my endeavors.
And one more thing…
Let’s all realize that there is a big, wide world out there full of people who need to hear what we have to say. Or need to receive from us in some way.
As we prepare our products for them and then let them know through marketing, we will have more than enough clients to be over-the-top successful.
We”ll get there…let’s keep on Soaring!
P.S. My book, How to Draw Your Crowd is coming soon. It’s a look at the many ways to get that crowd coming to your site. I’ll keep you posted.
