Try Everything?

* posts may contain affiliate links - what does that mean?

Thinking About Starting Your OWN Blog? If YOU'D like to learn how to make money blogging with affiliate marketing like I do, feel free to read my Free Blogging 101 E-Course here.


Help For Bloggers | Get Daily Pinterest Tips
Get Free Training, TWO Free Blogs, and Free Tools

Or Buy Everything?

The hubby and I went golfing yesterday.  With all the craziness in life lately, it sure was nice to get out in the fresh air and hit that silly white ball around.  I lost money to PotPieDude (about $40) – but, it coulda been MUCH worse.  Good news is that this post has nothing to do with my score (which was flat out embarrassing)!  Instead I want to talk about something I realized while on the golf course yesterday.

Golfers and Internet Marketers… The Same Breed

As I lost my THIRD golf ball yesterday in a little tiny, not-even-in-my-way pond, I got to thinking about golfers and our need for the latest and greatest equipment.  A dozen of the Callaway golf balls I like costs every bit of $40 – that’s over $3 per BALL!  Yikes!  And that’s just the cost of the golf balls.  That doesn’t factor in clubs, tees, gloves, greens fees, apparel, shoes…and on and on.

And we golfers, we don’t hit just any old golf club or choose any ol’ golf ball.  We like what we like and we firmly believe that if it works for Tiger Woods, it will work for us, too.

Crazy, isn’t it?  Just HAVING that ball or club will “work”???

Thing is, any ol’ golf ball or golf club WILL work.  The secret is not in the equipment – it’s in the swing.  I know golfers that can beat me silly using their 6-iron and a range ball – and that’s it!

Now, on the other hand, you CAN play better golf by having the equipment you need to make your game more effective.  A sand wedge is needed…but it doesn’t have to be a $300 sand wedge.

Back In My Golf Business Days

Back when I spent my days as a managing Golf Professional, I would watch people put away their perfectly good (and perfectly effective) driver or putter only to have them buy the latest and greatest of the week….at about $500 a pop – sometimes more.

It wouldn’t take long for that same golfer to come to me in a totally exasperated and frustrated state of mind declaring that they have “tried EVERYTHING” and their game still wasn’t better.

Try Everything?? Or BUY Everything?

Buying things doesn’t make you better.  Buying things does not constitute TRYING things either.  Above all, buying things sure won’t make your golf score lower.

Having the best equipment, the most expensive golf balls, or the coolest new golf jacket will NOT make you a better golfer – yet, millions and millions are spent in this industry every year.

Same with internet marketing.

I get many emails from folks who are so frustrated and jaded with internet marketing. Usually, somewhere in their email will be the statement that they have “tried everything and nothing works”.

When I politely ask them what they have tried….they end up telling me what they have bought….and how much they have spent.  But very rarely will people show me what they have DONE.

This breaks my heart.

It’s very hard for me NOT to ask, “Ok, you bought XYZ, can you show me how you tried XYZ?”  I’m afraid this would embarrass people – and I certainly don’t want to do that!  But why buy something if you’re not actually going to DO IT?  Buying is not trying.

There’s tons of people everyday that quit golf because they spent too much and nothing “worked”.  Same is true for internet marketing.  These are two of my favorite things…and I hate to see people leave feeling jaded and “scammed”.

If you buy something, but don’t learn to use it properly (or don’t use it at ALL) – how is this being scammed? I don’t get it.

The Only Thing That “Works” Is YOU

In golf, the only real thing that makes your game better is practice and DOING.  Once you learn some good golf mechanics, you repeat it over and over again on the course.  But ya gotta learn solid basics first and then PRACTICE them over and over.

Same with internet marketing.  Find a plan that suits you and DO IT over and over again.  You learn a TON by doing…and results only come from DOING, too.

I know it’s tough to get started.  I know its frustrating.  I know how hard it is to break thru that fear of doing it all “wrong” and just get something out there.

But ya have to do it.

I can’t think of anyone, in any sport or business, who tried something once and hit it rich.  Usually the most successful are not only the most dedicated, but they are also the ones who spend way more time than the majority of the population trying to always be better.

When Should You Buy Something?

This is a great question – when should you buy something to help your online marketing career?

Here are some situations where I think it is totally smart to buy something/spend money:

1.  You’re new and you need a plan of attack

I think this is why One Week Marketing is so popular.  When I was new, I needed a simple daily plan of action, so I created One Week Marketing for MYSELF.  It’s not all about concepts that might work if you figure them out and how to apply them… It’s not something else that adds to the fog and confusion… Instead, it is finally something that teaches you what to DO (and gives you some darn good internet marketing roots for the rest of your online career to succeed from).

2.  You realize you need to learn more and want to advance your knowledge

This is why I am such a BIG fan of Wealthy Affiliate.  I can’t think of another place online that is private, teaches you from very beginner and way beyond, and has 24/7 help in their awesome forum (not to mention all the tools they have, too).  If I could, I would get everyone and anyone I know to at LEAST sign up for the $1 trial that will happen next week (June 1st).  For $1, you can see and try everything inside Wealthy Affiliate and make a decision that works best for YOU.

BUT, there is limited space from what I understand.  If you think you might possibly even consider doing the $1 week long trial, go to the Wealthy Affiliate page here and get the free guide so you will on the list to know when it is first available.  To me, spending $1 to make a serious and informed decision for your business is extremely smart.

3.  There is a software or program that will save you time and enhance the business you are building

I like to offer bonuses to those that make a purchase thru my link.  The “downside” is the time it takes me to email all them bonuses out.  This is time I could be spending doing something else.  In this example, I am looking at this bonus software script that emails the bonuses FOR you.  To me, this would be a very smart purchase for me because it would free up my time so I can work on other things AND it makes my customer service that much better.

4.  You are paying someone to perform the processes that already work for you – or to free up some of your time so you can work on more profitable things (outsourcing).

I am doing more and more outsourcing as time goes by.  For me, it got to the point where it was humanly impossible to keep up with all I had going on.  I also outsource a lot of content generation for my niche sites and campaigns.  Now, I don’t see me ever outsourcing “PotPieGirl”, it sure helps and makes my bottom line better by outsourcing other things.

When Should You NOT Buy Something?

This answer is simple – don’t buy something if you have no plans, or no time, to implement what you’re purchasing.  And above all, don’t buy anything if your main motivation to purchase is because you think it is the “magic answer” that will replace effort on your part.

Nothing replaces you, your effort, and your knowledge.  YOU are your business…and for most of us, YOU are the only employee of your business, too.  If you owned and operated your own cleaning business, would you make more money by reading guides on how to clean – or by getting out there and cleaning?

However, getting someone to work with you, or getting better cleaning tools CAN make your business better and enable you to earn more – BUT, you still gotta get those houses cleaned….lol

When it comes to making money online, it all comes down to getting pages on the web, and eyeballs on the page.  HOW you choose to do that is totally up to you – but you gotta do it.

When you have those frustrated, nothing works type days, help yourself.  No, do NOT be your own worst critic – instead, be your biggest fan.

Common Internet Marketing Problems

There are three main problems people ask me about all the time –

1.  My web page ranks great but I get no traffic – Why?

One of two reasons a highly ranked page gets little to no traffic from Google –

a. There isn’t any search volume for that phrase.  If no one is looking for that phrase, how can you get traffic from it?

b.  Your title that is showing in a Google result isn’t compelling enough to get people to click it (simply re-work your page title and see if that helps)

2.  I get traffic, but no one clicks my links – Why?

Main reason for this is that people aren’t finding your links easily….or the invitation to click them isn’t interesting enough to the readers.  Try new wording and put your links in different places.  Most internet readers scan, they don’t read – and they won’t usually spend the time to hunt for a link to click next for more info.  They just use the back button.

3.  I get page views and traffic and people click on my links, But I’m not making any sales – Why?

Could be that the sales page for the product is not “talking” to the reader – it may not be what your targeted traffic is looking for.  Also, as much as I hate to say it, it could be a cr@p sales page that doesn’t convert.  In either case, think about testing another product.  Also please note, that “not making any sales” means after 100 clicks or so to me.  I’d really go with 200 clicks for many Clickbank affiliate products, but 100 clicks (and clicks that are NOT your clicks) is a good place to start considering another product for your readers.

Isn’t it funny that three of the main problems I just talked about require no money to be fixed?  They simply require YOU.

You don’t need to buy everything on the market to be successful with internet marketing.  However, you DO need to pick a starting plan and do it.  Do it alot…and keep your chin up… and most importantly –

Be your biggest fan and cheer yourself on.

While it might feel overly saturated in this make-money-online world, it’s really not.  Go to your local grocery store or a family gathering and I’d bet most people you talk to don’t have any idea what this is all about.

You are unique and you are doing something that most folks don’t know about and don’t understand.  You are fearlessly making big steps to change your financial future.  You aren’t staying where it’s “safe”, you are holding yourself accountable and making changes that YOU want for you and for your family.

In my opinion, that makes YOU very courageous!

No Ratings Yet

Whatcha Think?

35 Comments

  1. PotPieGirl
  2. Thomas
  3. Verlyn
  4. antbanks
  5. Marc
  6. Ivona
  7. PotPieGirl
  8. theverysmartguy
  9. Amber
  10. theverysmartguy
  11. Ruth
  12. theverysmartguy
  13. Ruth
  14. theverysmartguy
  15. theverysmartguy
  16. Ruth
  17. theverysmartguy
  18. theverysmartguy
  19. theverysmartguy
  20. aida

Need a Better Pinterest Strategy? ===>> Try This!