Internet Marketing
WHAT IS INTERNET MARKETING?
Like No Other Business On Earth
Internet Marketing is like no other form of business on this earth. Internet Marketing is not the get rich scheme that some would have us believe and even now, in 2010, it is still very much in the inception stages. This extract provides some suggestions and tools to boost your chances of success as an internet marketer.
What is Internet Marketing?
Successful internet marketers will tell you how they sat for years attempting to understand the workings of the internet, trialing various methods to make a living from it, and then if they didn't completely give up (which most do) ... suddenly realized how it was possible to tap into this rather unusual resource. The difference between "selling" and "marketing", is that in selling we begin with an existing product or service. Marketing on the other hand begins with the target audience and the marketer seeks out products and services to fit their needs. Hint: It takes the same amount of time to promote a product that you will make $5 profit from, to one that you will make $1000+ profit, so choose your products and services wisely.
Mastery
There is a great deal to learn about Internet Marketing, which is a term that encompasses Web Design, Security and Development, Data Base Development, Feeds, Content Management, Automation, Intranet, Site Interactivity, Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Viral Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and much more. The truth is there is too much to learn, which is why, those who are unreservedly described as web designers or web developers, are wise to specialize in one or two areas.
Big Brother Is Watching
As vast as the Internet may seem, the World Wide Web is controlled by a "surprisingly small", number of futuristic market leaders who recognized the potential in the earlier days of the internets' inception. Quietly and with much focus, these powers joined hands and developed strategies to bring a very fragmented concept into a workable marketing tool.
The web experienced a few catastrophes along the way, like the massive "Dot Com" failures and mass exodus of the early 90's. SPAM which used to be a tinned meat product was re-created as a word that referred to the billions of marketing emails that pulverized our email boxes. Then came the emergence of Internet Virus' and Trojans (like the infamous Melissa Virus) that literally shut down the computers of some of the worlds largest companies.
Despite all that, they were able to harness this massive marketing resource, simply by offering the essential free services that we now take for granted e.g. Search Engines and Web Tools.
Internet Statistics
There were only 40 Million users when we began in 1995; 202 Million in the first extract of this Program in 2000; 805 Million Users in 2003 update; and now it is estimated that there are an extraordinary 1.73 Billion users in 2010! View Statistics
"Oh! for 20 cents from each of them!"
Australia has always been an active participant in the development of the web and in some cases led the way.
Free Services First
The key players and survivors of the internet recognized some critical points about internet users, and that was that they preferred to use "free" services first.
All successful search engines are still free to use. The ones that decided to charge for indexing gradually dropped off the radar.
Free Search Engines took advantage of a known marketing nuance, i.e. that humans are creatures of habit. Particularly if there is a technical learning curve to be undertaken (recall the first time you blinked into the pretty screen to work it out!), sticking with one service is a comfort zone. The prospect of change is an agony.
Once a search engine (or Broadband Provider) has you in their grasp, you are a captive audience. They then have a myriad chargeable services and advertising opportunities to capitalize on their expansive resource.
Successful providers of such products as virus software, shopping portals, ecommerce, do it yourself web pages, free graphics, chat rooms, singles sites, flash makers and marketing tools followed suit ... and most of them, to this day, still provide limited free introductory services, which 80% of their users will eventually upgrade to a more sophisticated chargeable version.
What these providers achieved was a relationship of trust and familiarity, with users, which was then utilized to promote chargeable products and services.
To become a provider of as many useful "free" services is still the smartest way to capture and maintain a target audience. If you are commencing with a product or service, then it would be wise to take a step back and identify what free information your target audience would appreciate access to, and make it a part of your mission. For example:
- A real estate agency might provide updated articles and newsletters of local market values.
- A food company might provide essential consumer health and nutrition articles.
- A nappy company might provide articles and newsletters about successful parenting ...and so on ...
We wish you well in your quest into this still young, vibrant and emerging frontier - The World Wide Web!
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