How to choose your online marketing guru

If you’re in business for yourself, a marketing guru is a wonderful asset. Especially if you want to create success online. This post suggests criteria for choosing a primary online marketing guru. (If your upline is enough, skip this post.)

Entrepreneur: Today I’ve got good news and bad news. Bad news: In our scary economy, you cannot be almost good enough.

“Because almost good enough gets you nowhere. No sales, no votes, no customers.” Seth Godin, Sad Lie of Mediocrity here.

Good news: We know what it takes. In order to be successful in your own business, you need to be remarkably good in two ways:

1) You need to be a remarkable marketer and
2) you need to market something (product, service or business) that makes people absolutely rabid to have it. Something to market that delights folks

Sometimes you use a product and just love it so much you decide to market it. Then you need to learn how. For others, that inner entrepreneur is screaming to find something to get behind and market. And you go looking for something.

Either works.

Both of you think it’s cool to market online. Me too. Before you start spending your money and time chasing the “easy money” consider choosing an online guru who

1. has made good money online,
2. whose style is like yours and
3. who teaches at the level where you are right now.

There are plenty of online marketing gurus. Don’t jump in bed with the first one you see. Here’s how to choose, and some examples.

#1. Say you’ve got something you love and think is a world-changer for certain people. (If you don’t, see below to find something you love that others are rabid to have.)

#2. Do not ask, “what works best?” or “Who is best?” because, what works for Lulu will not necessarily work for you. Ask instead, “What kind of marketing do I want to do that is an extension of me? Something I really want to become first rate at doing?”

#3. Given the time you have, plan 30-90 days to learn the ropes of a marketing approach. There are many to choose from.

#4. Once you choose an approach, stop looking at anything else. It’s like buying a house. After you buy one, you stop looking. You invest your time and money into making your place special and even more, yours. This is the same.

You might even unsubscribe from newsletters pitching new programs for a while, so you’re not distracted.

#5. Choose a marketing approach that goes with your style and your level of sophistication right now.

Here are some examples of online training programs for different folks, different levels, and different temperaments. These are some I’ve reviewed and recommend.

Basics of marketing online. Suitable for online newbies and part-timers.

1. One of the most basic educational and fun online marketing programs is this one, by a gent who’s been helping newbies online for 15 years. Plus it’s just $59 (not a typo) (!) Excellent investment for online newbies who want to get the basics. This is a one time purchase, not a monthly.

2. Get Buyer program. If you have a blog or website, or have worked with leads, you can benefit from an excellent program here that shows you how get buyers – ten different sources.

Who’s not sick of the freebie-seekers and tire kickers?

This gent’s done some very innovative ideas that an online lover can do and have fun with. Things I never thought of that I’m doing now. This is a one-time purchase. ($99). (There is a smaller upsell that’s worth every cent, btw, but you need not get it if you want to start with the basic program.)

3. Bloggers. Make money with your blog, finally. Sorry for the loud sales page. This is the third revision of this best-selling course (his previous two sold a combined 20,000 copies).

This how-to-make-money-blogging guide is especially good for people newbies to Internet marketing and want to get involved with blogging for profit. But who don’t know how to do it yet. This gent has made himself thousands per month with his blogging strategies. He lays them out in this proven little program. $37 in the next 24 hours only.

4. If you’re looking to build up your self confidence and get some attitude, this program might be helpful for you. The site page color is pretty bad, but read the content, especially the awesome library that comes with, on the house. ($97) One time purchase.

Bigger stuff.

5. Publisher versus author. If you’d rather own the basketball team than be a star player, if you’d rather own the publishing house instead of being an author, this is totally for you. This program shows you how to build a membership site (which pays you monthly) in 12 minutes. How many would you want?

This world-class program for anyone who is not an expert, and who realizes that, as an online publisher of experts, you can get rich also. Publishers find experts. Experts who want to get published. Online. Very cool.

If you are not an expert in anything, and don’t want to become one, you can learn here how to partner up with experts, and be their online publisher. You share the take. This can turn into quite an empire, which is why people are buying this. $1,997 one time. (Monthly installment plan avail). Eye opener.

6. Monthly online marketing helper program. (This links to a screamy announcement for a conference call. Scroll down, go ahead and sign up (free) and you’ll be on their list to hear about it first. It’s available next week.)

If you have something online you want to promote, or find something to promote, it’s first rate and full of ideas I never knew about. For example, I do article-marketing to find readers with a similar world view to mine. But I never thought of some of the promotional sites online that exists solely to promote my blog or site to those folks, so now I do that. Once it’s set up, it’s automatic and there’s no charge. (!)

This is something I’m loving right now. Would not give it up.

The monthly helper program is not available until November 12. You’ll hear it first if you sign up on their page here. $47/mo.

Hope this is helpful. As I come across useful stuff, I’ll test, write it up and pass it on.