Self-Promotion

I used to tell people that a web-based business was like farming. Unfortunately, people took that to mean that, after a hectic period of building the site (planting), you basically just waited around for the orders to come in. But what I meant was that a web site is like… FARMING. 😀 Anyone who has done any real farming knows that you have to work at it every day in order to get any kind of harvest. Web sites are no different. So, if you want to start a web-based business, the first question you need to ask yourself is: are you willing to do what it takes to get that harvest?

There are no fixed rules because every site is different. The only feature common to all marketing plans is that they require daily effort. Getting started, you should plan on doing at least an hour a day of marketing sweat equity. Many successful people do 3-4 hrs a day the first couple of years. There is simply no substitute for this. Whatever it is you are promoting, you’ll need to build a fan base and that requires real effort. You need to be a real self-promoter and for whatever reason, I have found that this is what stops most people–they just don’t like self-promotion.

Most people, many with really great ideas, fail simply because they don’t like to actually sell. They were hoping that the web site would magically attract traffic. And when they realise that it doesn’t they lose interest. And when I offer to market for them, somehow it comes across as a sort of scam–I built the site just so I could give myself some ongoing marketing income (how clever of me.) But the truth is: you either do it yourself or pay someone like me to do it. Someone has to promote your products and services because they don’t sell themselves!

The people who succeed probably do not have better products or services than you. In all likelihood they are just more shameless than you are. 😀 They are willing to engage almost anyone and say, ‘I have something you will want’ because they sincerely believe it’s true. Promotion is something successful web site owners do every day like other people hit the gym. It’s a hobby and they feel bad when they miss a day because they enjoy it so much. If that’s you? You’ve got a good chance. If not; if you know yourself well enough that you know you won’t enjoy sending letters to 100 magazines telling them about your wonderful new adventure? This may not be for you.