Posted by: Julie McManus
April 25, 2008
Issue #404

Snake Oil Salesmen
Give Internet Marketing A Bad Rap!

Dear Business Builder,

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Yanik Silver’s Underground Internet Marketing conference in Los Angeles.  There once was a time when I attended several conferences a year … hitting the big names in my industry like the Direct Marketing Association and the Newsletter Publisher Association (now called Special Information Publishers Association) every year.  But times have changed, and for me the conferences come fewer and farther between … especially with two little girls at home.

But there are so many things I love about conferences and this one was no different. 

The networking opportunities are by far the biggest reason to go to conferences.  In a strange twist of fate, I met two important people that I needed for upcoming initiatives, and a short three weeks later, I’m already discussing implementation … plus scores more that I will contact when the right moment (or need) arrives.

The inside marketing secrets can’t be beat.  The unique aspect of Yanik’s conference is he brings in real business owners … this year Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com (nearly $1 billion in sales), and Mike Faith, the CEO of Headsets.com ($30 million in sales), were the keynote speakers, and that’s just two of among half a dozen other online business owners that spoke.  I walked away with dozens of great ideas – that are working in the real world – I’ll implement this year that will make an immediate impact on my client’s bottom line.

You get to see the latest trends.  Of course, video continues to be huge … especially as technology makes it easier to not only get your video on the web but for users to watch it.  Podcasting is also hot, especially video podcasting, which is considered to be one of the best ground floor marketing opportunities available.  And buzz marketing is growing in popularity like a house on fire.

And lastly you get to see the frustrations.  Although frustration was few and far between at this conference (it was a really optimistic crowd), there was one question that kept cropping up.  It came up several times during open panel discussions … and it’s a question I’m seeing on a regular basis …

How do I get traffic to my website?

Now at first glance, this seems like a crazy question (especially from people already making a living online) and a really huge question all at the same time.  And since I know there are so many new entrepreneurs entering this space all the time, I’ve always just assumed it was newbies asking the question.

But when it kept cropping up at this conference, it had me wondering about the education level of people entering the Internet marketing space.  And it got me really mad!

Enter Short, but Sweet Rant

Now please don’t misunderstand … by education, I’m not talking formal education.  I’m talking “the thing” – the course, the book, the newsletter, the webinar, the teleseminar, the info product that originally brought you into the whole “make money on the Internet” arena.

I don’t know about you, but when I made the switch from direct mail to Internet marketing, I bought and read many products … and I still do.  I continually educated myself so 1.) I can stay inspired and 2.) I can stay at the forefront of my profession.

But the quality of the “entry level” products is very diverse.  And so many of those “get rich on the Internet” products sold the dream that the Internet is free (or almost free) … and it’s easy to get all the traffic you need to make millions while you sleep … and it’ll only take you a couple hours a day.  The rest of the time you can play golf, hang out at the beach or just spend your time spending your new-found fortune.

It’s a load of horse pucky!  Anyone reading this that is making a living on the Internet – whether it’s as a business owner, copywriter or consultant – knows it’s not true.

And it burns me up that Internet marketing snake oil salesmen continue to lure unsuspecting dreamers in with their lies.

Folks … the Internet is not free, and it’s not easy.  There are so many fantastic reasons to have an online business … and the number one reason is flexibility! 

I guarantee it’ll take you more than two hours a day to have a real, profitable business online … it might even take you 8 or 10 or 14.  But you can put those hours in at anytime of the day or night you like.  And you can do it part-time if you like … but it’s important to have clear expectations, because running a business part-time also equals part-time results.

No one should enter into a situation with less than half the story.  Online ease of entry is so low, and you can start an online business on a shoestring … but if you want to make a real living, it can’t stay that way for long.

Rant over … which brings me back to that question.  The easiest way to get traffic to your website is …

TO PAY FOR IT!

For the next few weeks, we’ll go beyond Google and look at ways you can pay to get traffic to your website –and not just any traffic – good, qualified traffic that will convert into a paying customer.

As always, comments are welcome … I’d love to hear what you think.  Did a snake oil salesman promise you online riches beyond your wildest dreams in return for 2 hours of work a day?

Until next week,

Julie McManus
Editor, In the ‘Net Trenches
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
And Web Media Goddess

P.S. Are you in the ‘net trenches? Do you need help? Send me an e-mail to AskJulie@MakepeaceTotalPackage.com and I just might answer your question in an upcoming issue.

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6 Comments »

1. Comment by Ali — April 25, 2008 @ 4:42 pm

   Julie~ Thank you Thank you Thank you! My fiancee are sick and tired of the Rat race mediocre work for time, Bull. We have decided to do whatever it takes to start our own internet business. We\’ve been listening to Yanik, I ordered the Copywritng program from Writer\’s & Artist. We are very excited and very motivated! But, just as I\’ve always known from years of experience starting my own businesses from house cleaning to dance classes to painting addresses on peoples curbsides. It is all about the Exposure and the right exposure. I keep saying we need to buy email lists in our niches. Am I right? Please give me as much info. you can, on how to get traffick?   Forever grateful, Ali

2. Comment by Ken Varga — April 27, 2008 @ 1:32 pm

   Julie,  Great article.  Successful Internet entrepreneurs know the amount of time that\’s required to be a success on the Internet.  Again Thanks.

   Ken Varga
   http://www.kenvarga.com

3. Comment by Carolyn Permentier — April 28, 2008 @ 7:32 am

   Hello Julie,

   Great post!

   Thankfully, I’m not one of those poor souls,
   who got ‘taken,’ by a snake oil salesman … but so many
   have been.

   Like you, it makes me sick. It preys on one of the MOST
   fundamental desire of human nature, though, doesn’t it?

   Freedom.

   Yep. You, too, can be like me. Whup up a site,
   slap some products on it and you’re offnrunnin’!

   Right.

   There are quite a few of these hypsters still getting
   away with it, apparently.

   And, did you say "pay" for traffic?? Let’s see, that’s
   analogous to paid advertising in the brick and mortor
   world, yes?

   How novel.

   Thanks again,

   Carolyn
   http://www.blog.kickasscopywriter.com

4. Comment by Hugh Simpson — April 28, 2008 @ 7:33 am

   Hi, Julie! I’m a former consumer investigative reporter for Post Newsweek TV, have 34 years in Public REALAtions like I like to call it, 8 years in Internet Marketing and now using my 25 years of skills as a videographer to develop what I call Social Media 3.

   Yes, I have a consumerism blog where I report on the Internet scams and you are so right. You can’t believe that every thing these so called gurus push through their endless launches will work except for lightening one’s pocketbook! Most of the time our investigations find that they hire some Indian or Romanian programmer for some crazy software app that they don’t test and would NEVER use themselves.

   Or like the lady I helped with a scam operation in Utah that sells online stores sells stuff that is totally out of date or one could find for free as we explained to her. However there is a good ending to this story has we helped get back almost all of her $15,000 investment. And she was a paralegal!

   Send us the good stuff, Julie!

   Hugh
   Franklin, North Carolina

5. Comment by Dale — April 28, 2008 @ 7:34 am

   Hi Julie,

   Great article. Scammers will go anywhere they think they can make big bucks.

   I have a question. When you run an ad in a newspaper or magazine, print fliers, or send salesletters you have fixed costs which you can determine upfront. The problem with gimmicks like pay-per-click is that you have a variable cost that you can’t predict ahead of time. If you pay $1.00 per click and you get 10,000 clicks it costs $10,000. Not a problem if you have deep pockets, but a monstrous problem if you’re starting from broke. Some competitors or people who hate you will run up clicks just to cost you money. So, how do you market on the Internet in a way you can control and know your costs?

   Thank you,
   Dale

6. Comment by Phil Spinelli — April 28, 2008 @ 7:34 am

   We’ve been burnt many times in the beginning.

   There are sooo many programs out there, sooo many promises. Especially in the search engine game. It’s overwhelming. BTW, search engine traffic should be treated as a bonus, design your website for the search engines, play the game, but don’t get to caught up in it. It changes all the time. Yes, you do need to pay for sales and traffic. Nothing is free. PPC can be hard, you need to have the right keywords, and a good tracking system in place. You’ll lose money at first. We found that using print newsletters work great for customer retention, you can do a trifold flier in word, featuring a few top selling items, upload it to your mailer of choice, and mail it to your current customers (this cost money). Have a customer of the month reward program (this cost money) Referral program (this cost money). Buy mailing list of buyer of your type of products, and mail them post cards (this cost money). Have an affiliate program (this cost money) Even email (cost money). And for us, email does not work as well as printed newsletters. We send emails once or twice per week, and mail monthly print newsletters. Get a blog or forum. (cost money and or time and can be a pain deleting all the spam post) Run space ads (well you know what I’m going to say)

   Just my 2 cents

   Thanks, Phil