Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

Why an Employee Mindset Dooms Marketing
I think a lot of us look at marketing tasks from an employee mindset -- complete the task and receive a reward, regardless of what completing the task achieved.

That leads to the tendency to to do those tasks just for the sake of doing them and bailing out when when we don't see immediate compensation for our efforts.

It also leads to the failure to measure results, and the unwillingness to tweak and improve, that is essential to growing a business.

If we see marketing as a task for which we expect compensation simply because we put some time into it, we'll never see any benefits.

If, instead, we start by defining the results we want and then focus on getting the output of our efforts to match the results we seek, we'll start to see real benefits from those efforts.
Jeff

Labels: entrepreneurship, marketing

The Real Source of Success
Here's a favorite quote from Wilbur Wright:

"Skill comes by the constant repetition of familiar feats rather than by a few overbold attempts at feats for which the performer is yet poorly prepared."

Keep persisting. It benefits you in the end.
Jeff

Labels: inspirational quotes

A New Review of PortalFeeder
I just posted a new review on my site of one of the best tools for building a business available: PortalFeeder. PortalFeeder is a pretty amazing community of business owners, with a powerful arsenal of site-building and site-promoting tools.

I've usually been pretty closed-mouth about PortalFeeder, because they open their doors to new members only one or two weeks a year. But I hear that that door will open again sometime in March, so I suggest you check out the review. And if PortalFeeder sounds like a good fit for your business plans, head over to sign up on their notification list.
Jeff

Labels: PortalFeeder, site building, start business

Happy Birthday to The Fly!
Today marks a special date. It's the fifth birthday for the Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall blog.

Things have changed a lot since I first started this blog. Back then, I was focusing mainly on trying to find clients for my totally impractical and irrational business plan that I -- all by myself -- would be able to provide all online marketing services -- SEO, copywriting, PPC, press releases, link building, etc., etc., etc. -- for a dozen or so clients all at once.

Crazy!

My understanding of online marketing has grown a lot during those five years -- as well as my understanding of my own limitations. I now am focusing more on helping new business owners learn how to do their own marketing without going through as much trial and error that I did when I first stepped away from working as an employee into being an entrepreneur.

For those of you who have been with me through all (or some) of the time I've been doing this, thanks a lot!

Feel free to leave a comment about what you've liked best (disliked most) about this blog over the time you've followed it.
Jeff

Labels: start business

Making Peace with Marketing Your Business
I would find it humorous that so many people want a business of their own, but don't want to let anyone know that they're in business. At least I would find it humorous if it wasn't so sad.

We want the freedom of running our own business, but we don't want to discipline ourselves to do the tasks that go into running a business (of which communicating to others what we offer them is a key part).

We want people to pay us for what we do for them, but we also want them to stroke our egos by feeling that they, without any effort on our part, specifically searched US out until they found us.

We recoil from marketing because the examples of bad, intrusive, manipulative marketing stick in our minds. We think that that bad marketing defines what we have to do in order to get business.

In reality, though, those examples of bad marketing are examples that are as unproductive in getting others' business as they were in getting our business. We fail to recognize good marketing when we see it because it feels so natural and appealing.

How can we recognize it and model our own marketing after it? Just learn from yourself. When you find yourself really being drawn to something or someone, stop and analyze what led you to feel attracted. What did they do to put you at ease? What did they do to tap into a need you were feeling and reassure you that they could fill that need?

Focus on the things that persuade you. Model those examples rather than recoiling from what turns you off and thinking that you have to model that. If you focus on modeling the good, persuasive examples of marketing you encounter, instead of modeling the bad, manipulative ones, you'll find yourself more at ease with the idea of marketing. And you'll find yourself doing marketing that is increasingly more effective -- and even enjoyable!
Jeff

Labels: marketing, successful business