We live in interesting times. It has never been easier in the history of the world to learn something new.
We’ve gone from limited resources and information, with everything stored in libraries, museums and universities to a time when anything and everything is now available online. Everyone has access to anything!
So, why is it so hard for so many small business owners to make the shift from traditional to inbound marketing?
From paper advertising and telephone books to social media. From word-of-mouth to digital word-of-mouth.
It’s habit. It’s overwhelm.
My husband, Ed, is my laboratory. He’s a mechanical engineer by education and intellect. He can fix anything and build anything. But when it comes to figuring out how to add an image to his website, he’s toast.
He’s used to the idea that learning something new takes preparation and study. And he doesn’t have time for either… so that picture never seems to get posted.
Sound familiar?
This weekend I suggested that rather than wait for me to resize and post that image, he google, “how to resize an image” and figure out how to do it himself.
He was amazed at how simple the process was. He checked the first few options available in the organic search and chose his own favorite, not mine – ipiccy.com. The picture got resized and is now up on his website ultralightoutfitters.com. (Image illustrating this post – it’s a great can opener by the way!).
Ed’s problem, as we discussed the process, was that Google served up 160,000,000 results! How did he know if he got the best choice, he mused.
My response was that with virtually unlimited choices, the biggest issue is analysis paralysis. If you know what you need, and can craft a request that targets that need, you will probably get what you want on the first page of an organic search.
In this day and age, if you don’t, it’s probably that you haven’t refined your request enough, because Google and the other major search engines are getting better and better at almost reading your mind.
So back to why you aren’t embracing inbound marketing as thoroughly as you know you should?
Is it analysis paralysis? Is it overwhelm? Is it too many points of view about where to start and what to do?
Internet marketing is a young, inexact science. Huge amounts of data is being collected and analyzed to try to answer the question about what works best.
And because the end result is interaction with humans, it will probably always be somewhat inexact. But I find it reassuring that the data, and actions taken by the huge companies whose existence depends on getting it right indicates that the basis of the Take Control of Your Internet Marketing program is spot on.
- It’s about knowing and focusing on the needs and wishes of your Perfect Customer, the one who pays your bills that you wish you had a 100 or a 1000 just like.
- It’s about the quality of the digital interaction you have – being where your Perfect Customer is searching, using the words he or she is using to connect with the information that will solve their problems and fulfill their needs and wishes.
- It is about respecting their time and privacy.
So, join us if you haven’t, and access and implement the video lessons here at Take Control if you have. It’s simple and doable. You are our Perfect Customer, and we’re here to make you a success online.
And now, I need to get back to my research on the Higgs boson. It’s all available online, and keeping up with what’s happening at the Hadron Collider in Switzerland is thrilling to me. I don’t need a physics degree. I can google it!
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