12 Keys I Learned As An Intern
One of my interns recently finished the program and sent me an incredible article of what he had learned during the time he was an intern.
After looking over the 12 keys he said he learned, I asked him if I could publish this for you…and he agreed. I wanted you to have these to print out BECAUSE it isn’t just about being an intern. These 12 keys apply to all of your internet business. They’re 12 lessons everyone needs to learn to be successful online (the only thing I changed in this article was an adjustment to the title – everything else is directly from him).
“12 Keys I Learned As An Intern”
By Shaun O’Reilly
AKA “Shaun van Hart”
Lesson # 1: The Internet is Primarily a Keyword-Driven Medium
Only create content for subjects that people are ALREADY searching for. Find out what people are already looking for by thorough keyword research. My own thoughts are that the keyword tools are like a mind reading device that allow you to really get inside the mind of your prospects to find out what they are looking for so you can give it to them. The main lesson is that if people aren’t already searching using keyword phrases on the subject then DON’T waste your time producing any content for that area.
Lesson # 2: The Incredible Power of Affiliate and JV Relationships
Invest a lot of time in developing strong relationships with active affiliates who can make a lot of sales for your business. Leverage the time, money and effort of affiliates to produce more sales with less time, money and effort on your part.
Before doing the Intern Program, I had negative feelings toward affiliate programs mainly due to my past experiences with the Internet Marketing pimp-a-product approach of many affiliates in this market. They don’t seem to care if the product will really help the most important person of all – the end customer.
I now realize that I can use affiliate programs, affiliates and JV partners in an ethical way on my terms. Not all affiliates are bad!
Lesson # 3: The Importance of Having a Consistent Daily Habit of Promoting Your Internet Business
Rather than having a haphazard approach to marketing your Internet business it’s vital to have a daily discipline and routine of promoting your Internet business every day. In fact, it’s important to have a strategic marketing plan for promoting your business via multiple channels on a regular basis.
I’ve learned that promotion is not a bad word and is a way of letting others know how you can help them. If I don’t promote my Internet business on a daily basis then I’ll not reach and impact as many people as I want to.
Lesson # 4: Go Where the Highest Traffic Is to Leverage Your Time, Money and Effort
Strategically select the highest traffic sites in your niche so that you can get the biggest ROI on any time, money and effort you put into your Internet business. Use Alexa and other tools to determine where the most traffic is and focus your time, money and effort on those sites. This reminds me of the 80/20 Rule and the importance of investing my time, money and effort wisely.
Lesson # 5: There Are No Magic Buttons for Internet Success
Quit looking for magic bullets and allowing the guru cartel to distract you into buying the latest ‘must-have’ product on the Internet. Get real and get into action doing the things that will grow your Internet business and focus on the fundamentals and things that work instead of being distracted by the latest trend and fad.
Lesson # 6: Copy is King on the Internet so Constantly Test to Maximize ROI
The words and images on a web page greatly affect conversions so constantly test and track the most important elements such as headline, first paragraph, photo, caption, call to action, etc. Focus especially on headlines and sub-headlines to maximize the number of people who read your whole message and act on it.
Lesson # 7: Multi-Purpose Your Content Into Different Forms to Get the Most Return from Every Word You Write
Rather than just producing content in one format look for multiple ways to re-purpose the same content many, many times. This will maximize the exposure and returns you get from every piece of content you take the time, money and effort to create.
For example, Blog ? Article ? Video ? Press Release ? Product ? Product Series ? Affiliate Tools
Videos are a quick and easy way to create content and have a high perceived value too.
Lesson # 8: The Internet is Now a Social and Highly Interactive Medium – Get Involved
The Internet has now evolved into a more interactive media with social bookmarking sites and the growth of Web 2.0. Therefore, it’s vital to grow along with the trends and use the new Web 2.0 sites to reach people who they prefer to communicate and interact with them where they are.
Before the Intern Program, I was mildly interested in Web 2.0 and saw it as more of a fad. Now I see that it is vital to follow the trends and use them effectively to grow my Internet business.
Lesson # 9: Think Strategically & Look for Leverage Everywhere
Before taking action in your Internet business make sure that it makes the best use of any time, money and effort you invest. Look for ways that you can get other people or software to do things for you so you can focus your time on marketing and growing your Internet business.
Before this program, I allocated my time poorly, haphazardly and un-strategically. Now I think before I choose the actions I take and which ones I’ll choose to do and which ones I’ll outsource to others. I’m developing some routines and systems to be able to use my time more effectively.
Lesson # 10: A Life-Changing Product Focuses on Small and Significant Action Steps
The Intern Program has been a great demonstration of how to get people to take small but significant action steps to build a successful Internet business and actually DO something with the information instead of just learning it. Why aren’t more information products structured like this?
Lesson # 11: Find a Successful Internet Business and Model Them
Watch what successful Internet business owners do and observe what they actually DO versus what they tell or sell you to do. Follow the changes they make and study their processes to use them as a model in your own Internet business.
Before the Intern Program, I was dipping into different models from various Internet marketers and allowing myself to be pulled in multiple different directions. Now, I’ll save a lot of time, money and effort by focusing on the methods of a small number of Internet marketers that I respect and whose marketing methods I resonate with. This will minimize distractions and give me more time to work on building my own Internet business instead of somebody else’s. Success leaves clues.
Lesson # 12: There’s a HUGE Difference Between Education and Practical Experience
Most information products in the Internet Marketing niche focus on educating you and giving you just more information. However, by actively participating full out in the Intern Program and DOING each and every assignment, I was able to actually experience the theory in action and see the results of my work directly and it became more visceral. So, get involved in the material you learn and look to apply everything useful that you learn so you can really turn the information into real knowledge and results.
Related Entries:- Intern Program – Step-By-Step Internet Marketing
- Most Valuable Intern Procedures
- Pursuit of Happyness
- Great Blog Posts from Around the Net
- Daily Marketing Calendar
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14 Responses to “12 Keys I Learned As An Intern”
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These are great observations and will print them out as a reminder!
Thanks!
Howard “OutSourcerer” Tiano
Great list and I’ll be printing it out, too. Just stumbled it, too This has to be shared.
Hi Terry
This is a great article and I have printed it off so that I can refer to it.
I was talking to an internet colleague at the weekend and he was asking my advice on a new program.
I had already checked it out and may use it myself, however I asked him, what have you done with the last three programs you asked my advice on?
His reply was very typical..Oh, I am working on them and will get them going, but I thought this looked a great program.
I emailed him back later that day with a big font header “KEEP FOCUSED”..
I also sent him a copy of a typical “To Do” page and advised him before he done anything else, to start using this page on a daily basis and work AND COMPLETE one program at a time.
When one is complete and running successfully, then it is OK to look at the next.
I think we all have this mistake…busy buzzing around from new program to new program but not really getting anything done, “because we were too busy”!
Thanks again Terry for your very inspirational articles.
Kind Regards
Tom
Great list of observations there i quickly passed it onto my crew at CostaRicaHQ where we really needed a list like this for our interns, loving the difference between education and experience thats very clever and an important lesson.
Terry,
Do you have a specific program you put interns through? Was he an actual intern or is that the name of a program you have? Would love more info as I work with interns on a regular basis:)
Brian Rodgers
Fantastic list. Everything you really need to do in a nutshell.
Shaun –
This is a very impressive list and extremely well-written. I also admired your willingness to admit where you’ve been wrong in the past (not paying enough attention to Web 2.0) and how you are rectifying this mistake.
Best of luck in your own internet business —
Phyllis
Terry, I have the same question as Brian. Perhaps you could share with us some of the things your interns do and how you help prepare them for the real world? Chris
Hi Brian and Christopher,
The intern program he was a member of is the one I have at http://www.freeintern.com. Basically I train interns how to promote online including researching keywords, writing articles, running a blog, finding JV partners, etc. It’s a daily systematic plan of promotion (they promote my business during the training and then are free to use the info for their own business once they finish).
Terry
[...] This post was Twitted by Cheryl_Hines – Real-url.org [...]
Hi Terry,
I signed up for the intern program but no feedback yet.
Just checking if you actually got it or I was screen out.
Thanks
Apmis
Hi Apmis,
You should receive the first email automatically by an autoresponder from the system. You may want to check your spam folders in case it got deleted…or try again.
Julie
I’d been like you Shaun. I learned from experts too. And now i have built my own web world and helping people using Internet Business Path. I help people to learn how to start their own business using ecommerce software and apply profitable and successful strategies that requires less time and make more money. Its so good to feel helping people right?
Thanks!
I too have madeisrakes along the way. Listened to the wrong people, believed the quick cure adverts on the Internet. The only way I’ve learnt us through making mistakes. Although this can be time consuming and frustrating, it stands you well for the future. It’s not very often you make the same mistake twice! The most important thing to remember is that nothing comes easily. Be prepared to work hard and eventually you will see the rewards.