Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Remembering What I Forgot
Sometimes it's easy to forget even the things that you think are second nature to you.

That's what happened to me the other day.

I checked a blog that I've followed pretty regularly lately and saw a post in which the blogger announced his intention to start a new series on how to successfully run a contest on your blog.

"Big whoopee," I thought. "Just what I need. Another new traffic-building tutorial to add to all the traffic-building tutorials that I already don't have time to try. I can definitely skip the next few days on this blog."

I read the post anyway and was quite surprised. Instead of breathless hype about how to skyrocket your traffic through this "new" technique the blogger had discovered, the post was a simple, heartfelt story about how the blogger's wife, who had never had any use for all this Internet marketing stuff her husband did (other than it providing money to support her clothes shopping), had decided to start her own blog on a topic that was close to her heart.

See, she had been afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis. At the age of 30, she was walking with a cane, because it was so bad. She decided to share her experiences and the helps she had found with other people who had the same need.

Her husband agreed to help her get started. And since he had had some great success drawing readers to his blog through contests (including me, by the way), the first thing he was going to do in promoting the site was to set up a contest for it.

All of a sudden, I saw the whole situation in a different way. No longer was I thinking about contests as "just another traffic generation gimmick," but as "a way to connect in a fun way with people who are looking for a solution to a definite need."

Now I have harped on that idea on this blog often enough that I should have known better. I have frequently pointed out that marketers should never view what they do as tricks to manipulate people against their will.

I have always advocated looking at marketing as a tool to connect people who are looking for a solution with a solution that will fix their need.

But sometimes even I become inundated with all the hype flying around the Internet for this or that new big-money, no-effort tactic and start thinking in terms of tactics instead of connecting.

But connecting is what's important. Connecting is what marketing's all about.

By the end of that post, I was actually looking forward to him doing a series on how he planned to help his wife start her own blog—including the contest promotion. Because it sounds like a story of true marketing—learning how to connect with others.

Sometimes it just takes a little something out of the ordinary to remind you of what you thought was second nature to you.
Jeff

Labels: blogging, marketing, mindset

One Stop Web Support Newsletter #67 Posted
The latest issue of my newsletter is now posted. You can see it here:
http://www.onestopwebsupport.com/newsletters/nl-2008-08-03.htm

The main article is:
Romancing Your Customers to Increase Your Profits

This week's Q & A is:
How do you set up an autoresponder for email purposes?

If you haven't signed up for my newsletter, you can do so at www.OneStopWebSupport.com/newsletter-signup.htm. And I'll make it worth your while if you do. I'll give you $250 worth of free gifts for signing up!
Jeff

Labels: newsletter