Confessions of an Internet Marketer…
Wow, I didn’t know I could still screw-up so badly after 10 years online. So here’s my confession. Let me know how many other marketers you see openly confessing their mistakes… I bet it’s less than the number of fingers you have on your right hand.
I promoted a program recently which I thought I could get tremendous value from. I offered a bonus monthly summary to people who joined using my affiliate link. Since then I’ve found that I don’t have the inclination to follow the wealth-building strategies… especially with my children being at home full time during their summer holidays. Actually, now that I’ve come close to paying off my second mortgage in just four years, and with my business having done over a million dollars in revenue since it was created just five years ago, I’m not really that concerned about reaching much higher.
So, I withdrew from the monthly program and apologised to the list of people who joined using my link and who wouldn’t be getting the monthly summaries. I tried to make up the lost value by offering my products, phone consultations and email consultations. I even offered to try to get the bonuses of other marketers if anyone was originally considering using a different affiliate link to the program.
The lesson here, which I’ve learned the hard way, is not to promise “future” products/services/bonuses unless you are 100% certain you can deliver. Promising something “into the future” is, quite simply, risky. Anything can happen in life. How can you ever be 100% sure you can deliver something next week, next month or next year?
Learn the easy way what I’ve learned the hard way… don’t issue promises into the future.
I seem to remember a Terry Dean article where he wrote about having a member’s site where members paid only once, upfront, for lifetime access. I think Terry said that maintaining that site and adding fresh content cost him a fortune because he wasn’t able to move on to other opportunities. He was basically working for nothing once people were members… and they expected fresh content each month.
It’s the same principle… don’t promise “into the future”. I can’t find the exact article, but some of Terry’s articles are archived here. They’re really good… and free. 
(Terry left the business several years ago, in case you were wondering)
I hope by confessing my mistake, it gives you food for thought.
August 30th, 2006 at 3:07 pm
Neil,
Well done for you saying all of that. Mucho respect.
I think you have made the right decision. When the program
you were promoting was mentioned, I thought it was
particularly over-hyped and I knew I wouldn’t get value -
mainly because I was clasically trained in my corporate life
so know most of what to do in any case.
But one thing I am doing now is to dilute my risk. I currently
make 70% of my income from one site. I want to reduce
that to well under 40% and branch off into the offline world
(that we previously discussed)
My mission is to spread my risk.
August 31st, 2006 at 12:55 am
Arg, I’m still making 99.9% of my money from one site.. but I’m trying to do other things to cover my self if something happens to my main site.. I’m heading towards the content/adsense direction as this takes less dedication, drives traffic to my other sites and runs by its self once you have it going.. I’m in the early stages of my content sites.. but I give it another 6 months and I should have something going.. Hopefully
January 20th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
This Blog was right on target. Kudos to the writer. I think that the only true way for any of us to really reach our business goals, and goals in life for that matter, is by coming together as community and helping one another. The power of community is remarkable. By being part of one that consistently contributes information to one another you multiply your efforts by tenfold. The saying it “ it takes a village” applies to more than just raising children. I for one love nothing more than to help someone get one step closer to reaching their dreams. It gives me a sense of contribution that makes feel OK about staying up long hours day and night researching the latest techniques and tricks to have a successful business and draw people to it.
The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.
-Confucius-
If you are interested in some help in your business visit my videos at
www.MartinFortKnox.com
or check out my site at
www.bankrollmarketing.com
Thank You