Today, I’d like to pinpoint 5 internet marketing skill sets you need to master to be in control of your success within the SIMPLE framework and the Connect-Create-Collaborate model I base my business and training on.
#1: Productivity And Time Management
Some blame the economy for their poor results, but I would be that most people aren’t growing their businesses due to a lack of focus. You need to have a system in place that keeps you on track and makes the most out of your time.
Personally, I prefer to use mindmaps to help set and stay focused on specific goals within my daily, weekly, monthly, and annual time frames. Much more powerful than to-do lists, mindmaps allow you to categorize and prioritize those activities that simply must be done to move forward.
Whatever you use, if you find that you end your day feeling like you got nothing accomplished, then that system isn’t working for you. Your system should give you momentum.
#2: Relationship Marketing Through Email And Social Media
Communicating with prospects and existing customers will likely be the #1 demand on your time. And it should be because a S.I.M.P.L.E. business is based on people!
So you need to know how to manage your autoresponder system to automate the delivery of your messages. You need to know how to use sites like Twitter and Facebook to ensure your business is being represented authentically. And you should be investing some of your time reaching out to people with questions and answers in an interactive way. You can’t afford to let others determine how your brand is perceived; be in the forefront with online relationship marketing.
#3: Website Basics
You certainly don’t need to become a graphic designer or full-fledged webmaster to succeed in your business. But if you don’t know how to edit your webpages, create blog content, then you’re going to waste a lot of money!
With software tools like WordPress driving modern websites, you truly have no real excuse to ignore this skill set.
One of the biggest challenges I’ve seen entrepreneurs face is finding themselves locked out of their own websites, or waiting for weeks for their webmaster to “get it right” with changes you ask for. It’s crucial that you know how to register your own domains and do basic things within your hosting account. Creating blog posts, uploading PDFs and other files to your site, and even checking your traffic stats are skills you’ll always benefit from.
#4: Creating And Selling Information Products
A crucial part of the S.I.M.P.L.E./Connect-Create-Collaborate model of business is creating and selling information products. This is how you can take advantage of this golden age of information that we live in.
Creating free reports, hosting teleseminars, publishing ebooks: these are easier than ever before to do yourself. And the speed of selling and delivering these types of products will make your customers raving fans.
Best of all, when you know how to create digital information products with low-cost tools and resources, you can realize high margins of profitability that your offline business friends will drool over!
#5: Affiliate Management
If you want to enjoy the accelerated growth that comes from the promotional efforts of your customers and your joint venture partners, then setting up and running an affiliate program is essential.
The software systems that are used to track the sales and traffic being sent by your partners continues to improve in both features and in simplicity. Without these systems, you’ll be relying solely on your own efforts. I imagine if this is where you are now, you feel like a hamster in its wheel, exhausting itself with every revolution!
When you get a handle on your affiliate system, you’ll have an automated sales team doing a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
Outsource These Skills At Your Peril
Although you can hire people to do these skills for you, ultimately you’ll see better results if you have mastered them yourself. This way, you’ll never be held hostage by a webmaster, employee, or virtual assistant who comes up short. You’ll also avoid being taken advantage of by high-priced service providers who rely on your ignorance for their exhorbitant fees.
More importantly, I hope you take action on what you learn from me and other internet marketing teachers. And if you’d like to quickly learn how to implement these strategies and master these skills, do join the others at the IM Success Library and at the upcoming SIMPLE 2 Internet Marketing Conference in Baltimore this September so I can help you personally.
And be sure to share your comments below about your strengths and weaknesses in these 5 areas.
Bob Jenkins
p.s. These 5 are not the only skills to master, but if you are missing these in particular, you’re going to have a very difficult time achieving the level of success you’re aiming for.
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