I don’t know about you but lately it feels like the sheer volume of information as it relates to Internet 
marketing, social media and all things web is increasing at an alarming rate. If you choose to do so you could spend your days gathering and learning and wonder where the time went.
Trouble is this. You have a business to run. Even if you are in Internet marketing as your job you still have to do the work or direct others to do it. Even if you spent all day in an ivory tower gathering every bit of information there is to grab you still have a problem. Why? Well, just acquiring information and passing back out doesn’t have any impact on how much is absorbed and applied. This is the type of practice that creates shallow “knowledge” and not real world application.
So rather than throw up your hands and scream “Uncle!” what do you do? Most important make sure you do the basics. Determine what areas of Internet marketing and social media can actually impact your top line revenue. Top line revenue in this current climate indicates activity. Yes, you want to be as profitable as possible but right now in this economic environment you have to be generating business of any stripe (other than something that is an obvious loser).
Regardless of your business size you need to be doing the basic things well on a daily basis and experimenting when it is merited.
- Pay attention to search marketing and make sure you are working daily to improve. People will likely search more via the engines when times are like they are now.
- Make sure your analytics are giving you the best picture of your performance so you can make good business decisions regarding your working and human capital in lean times.
- Decide if social media can make money for you. The time invested MUST show a return or strong potential of one. Otherwise you will fall into the trap of confusing busy-ness with business.
- Ask for help. If you don’t know it find someone who does, pay them what they are worth, learn what you need and then go from there. If you are not in this type of work more than ½ of your workday then you WILL NOT be ahead of it enough to be effective.
- Be honest. If you do not know enough about Internet marketing just admit it. If you don’t feel if will help you then move on. If you have been waiting to do it as you acquire knowledge then consider outsourcing. Whatever the case, action is needed. Take it now.
FT Takeaway: There is too much information about Internet marketing for most to digest. Decisions based on real world situations and expectations are needed more than ever. If Internet marketing is right for you then execute it in a way that makes it stay right. Doing it just to do it will not work.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Yep, if you start digesting all the Internet Marketing info from the web you’ll end up spending days and nights just doing that. Instead, one should try acting, doing the basic marketing, analyzing stats, etc. and only then adding new marketing tactics if required. If you run a small business you’ll never become proficient in all the aspects of Internet Marketing and you don’t need to. Just learn the basics, you may outsource the rest.
How very true Frank! I certainly don’t have the time to review all the different information sites out there. I wouldn’t be in business any longer if I did.
You’re absolutely correct, Frank, about the time investment demanded by social media. Continuously generating content is nearly a full time job in itself; however, companies rarely have an employee dedicated to social media full time.