Letting Go of Outdated Systems, Trends and Beliefs

by David Harris

As marketing trends come and go, coupled with changes in the way the search engine giants constantly update their algorithms, most marketers still hang on to what they initially learn.

One of the hardest things for some marketers to do is to let go of well worn habits, and that can be detrimental to one’s business in these fast changing times.

If you don’t know that you may be holding onto beliefs that keep you stuck, or going in circles, how would you know to change your belief system?

The concept could fill a series of books, but we’re choosing to focus on Internet Marketing issues rather than the meaning of life.

However, I know what an ordeal it can be.

One moment you’re specializing in some kind of marketing technique.

Then it’s quickly dismissed the next moment by the Search Engine Giant’s whim after much time spent on trying to improve and perfect it.

I also know many who continually look for “short cuts” and ‘guru secrets’ only to end up wasting precious time every time with black hat gimmicks that could get them banned.

Because you have things to do, goals to accomplish, dreams to live, and REAL value to give, it is important that you keep them fresh and relevant.

If you’re not clear on the “value” you’re giving or it’s not already bringing lots of prospects and clients to you.

Then that’s the challenge to work on no matter what anyone else is telling you about what you need to be doing.

After years of doing this, I’ve learned where the majority of people go wrong because I did the same things when I started.

I know the mindset people can get stuck in because I’ve been there.

This establishes a different kind of relationship between us where you can learn from someone able to be quite direct about what it takes to succeed on YOUR terms, focusing on your strengths, values, and goals.

After years of testing, failing at most and succeeding in precious few genuine online marketing business opportunities, or biz opps, the simplest thing I can say to those who ask me is, “proof is in the bank account.”

In today’s ever-changing algorithms, I say that staying informed will keep you well-armed.

Today’s presentation challenges the beliefs running rampant in our industry.

My intention here now is to open up as many people to consider the path least taken…

The path of becoming more useful as an individual rather than spinning your wheels is a noble pursuit, but how to go about it when so many “gurus” are pulling you in different ways?

Constantly look for new traffic sources, focus on getting more leads to make more money online and create strategies, tips, and systems that emphasize increasing perceived value that will attract people to your online business.

Systems, strategies, tips are good. But they should complement the value you offer…

They should not be the offer! Most people trying to make money online fast only end up shortchanging their business this way.

We constantly expose those very scams that promise you a quick and easy return yet never deliver on their word.

Many outdated business opportunities offer nothing but the hype that diverts your attention to their secret formulas and vague lures rather than presenting their opportunity with transparency.

Sure it might be human nature to clutch old routines, however unhelpful or unproductive they might end up being, but the smart or hip marketers continually re-educate themselves to stay at the forefront of their craft.

You might ask who has time to do that when there is a business to run but learning the new techniques keeps you fresh and your business thriving.

Remember, your fiercest competition is doing everything they can to stay on top of the rankings and if you are not then your status quo will dwindle that much sooner.

That’s because things have come a long way in the past few years, and holding on to outdated notions may make you squander money and lose search engine rankings and customers at a rather quick pace.

That said, the millennial market is fast overcoming the boomers.

Those from the baby boomer generation do not keep up with the rapidly changing speed of marketing techniques that millennials are implementing.

At this point, the millennial marketing era is currently at $200 billion in spending power, and most senior marketers are losing out on the majority of that due to not letting go of old practices.

This millennial market is using modern technology to its advantage, while the boomers are still stuck in their old ways.

So you may be asking what those old ways are versus what the millennials are doing.

For one, tech-centric millennials do not share the boomer’s love of print media.

Print magazines, periodicals, and other older forms like cable and TV advertising are being bypassed by the younger generation.

The rise in new technologies like mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops are also replacing desktops, radio, newspapers, and TV as a way of receiving information.

Because of this obsession with new formats, teens often live with their devices within arms’ reach, and the old baby boomer way has been abandoned by them.

This is bewildering many businesses that were used to a standard that is declining in grabbing the attention of the young.

TV viewership is down and sinking among youngsters.

Traditional radio has been replaced by satellite radio and more importantly, streaming services.

Brand marketers are lagging behind in reaching the new growing market.

Many of them still rely on magazine spre that fewer young are looking at.

Millennial marketers use digital media for direct response advertising now rather than old fashioned branding or general advertising.

This new medium targets consumers using the internet with laser focus precision.

Cookies and other capturing methods look at what browser surfers are looking at.

They then can place banner in the browsers that may directly interest them based on previous product views.

For example, I often view automotive products.

The search engine marketers take note of this and I am targeted by those who want my auto related business.

Older businesses have been slow to adapt to these new methods of direct advertising and are losing out to the new tech-savvy competition.

They still pour heavy money down the traditional TV drain even as it is fragmenting more and more, and as viewers are walking away from it in larger numbers than before.

To add to the frustration of business leaders seeing their numbers go down, the traditionalists are only spending fractions of their budgets on new marketing and advertising methods.

Older CMOs are overwhelmed by these new ideas and often claim that they aren’t as effective at branding as traditional media.

Personal blogs, aggregator sites, and original content sites and their counterparts like social media sites like Google and Facebook are vastly misunderstood by many baby boomer marketers.

Because of this, boomers stick to old legacy brand websites that don’t do a very good job of developing high-traffic sites that renew updates at the speed millennials expect.

Other old habits that are hard to let go of include yielding to agencies they hire which spend the majority of companies’ budgets on network instead of focusing on internet marketing.

How does all this relate to you, our faithful readers who are trying to engage in extra income opportunity businesses?

As a small business marketer, you have the advantage of growing your home business using the new techniques ignored by “big business”.

Your campaigns should engage the millennials you should be trying to reach by using methods like site takeovers, skins, push-downs, embedded videos, and interactive , among others.

Adapting to these and more new methods in the digital age will increase your success when you add them to your work from home ideas.

Embracing them will put you way ahead of baby boomer marketers who are reluctant to make money online fast and effectively while winning your customers over and gaining their loyalty.

This creates opportunities to succeed by using new techniques that almost level the playing field.

As the old guard continues to hold on to old habits, you have this advantage.

Even those big businesses that have engaged in some digital marketing are only still using older less effective methods, so they continue to stay behind.

Old methods like keyword centric domain names, sites and capture pages, and email advertising which just end up in spam boxes, backlinks, and anchor text all have been rendered mostly useless by the new algorithm changes constantly updated by Google.

One example of redesigning your email campaigns would be to turn your email newsletter into a blend of helpful advice articles, product discounts/markdowns or special service offer rates.

Measuring fans and likes statistics on your social media pages are also a thing of the past in the way of significant importance to your marketing campaigns.

More important than having a huge following is having genuine social engagement through social media.

This means your social followers should have an actual interest in your products and services.

Your followers becoming involved in any kind of process is more significant than how many of them you accumulate.

Process can be anything like opt-in or click through rates, customer acquisitions, sales, etc.

Lose the other bad habits the old-school-garde is used to making as their standard operating procedure tantamount to using the “blows to the head mentality”.

You have to draw them in now, building trust.

You cannot continue to act like you’re listening when you’re not.

Failure to respond to customers and being rude to them gets around pretty quickly worldwide these days.

Almost half of the consumers who report problems to customer service expect responses fairly quickly.

And if you are not responding promptly there are always sites like Yelp on which they can lodge their complaints.

The old tricks like “Only 3 positions left!”, “Hurry and BUY now!”, “Almost out of stock”, etc., fall under false scarceness.

These are ploys that will annoy prospects and may end up losing your credibility.

Embracing the new marketing techniques or at least incorporating them with what you already know will help you make money online with your business.

Thanks for reading…

– David