One Way to Success Online
Don’t take the above title in the wrong way. I’m not suggesting there is ONLY one possible way to succeed online…and that everything else is wrong. What I am suggesting is there is a best way for YOU personally to succeed online.
One of the advantages of working with clients directly is you get to see the resuls and how different skillsets affect their results online. Here are a 3 observations I’ve been making lately about those who succeed online in the shortest period of time.
1. Become an expert at one method of content creation.
They are extremely good at creating one form of content…in fact they almost ALWAYS have too much of this form of content.
For example, one person can write like you wouldn’t believe. They’re always writing. They just won’t stop writing! They have a couple of months of content already pre-written for their blog.
Another one HATES writing, but they love recording audios. They talk…talk…talk. So they load their email follow-up series with all kinds of audios…plus a podcast…and they sell audios.
It’s the same thing with video.
A lot of people have discussed “finding a niche you love” but I think this is even more important…find a style that works for you. You can create content in any of the above forms and then have it transferred to others (your article can be turned into a video and your audio can have a transcript done for example).
You might have heard the statement, “Content is King.” This may or may not be true. I’m sure we could all have a nice argument about it, because just as important are traffic methods and persuasive skills (point #2 and #3 below).
But we all need to agree that if you build the foundation of your business on poor content, it can collapse like a house of cards.
The key is finding a form of content you’re comfortable producing regularly. In fact I don’t think you’ll ever find someone in online business that says, “We have too much content.” Because there is always a way to use the content (notice I didn’t say it all had to be free content).
Which method is the best…written, audio, or video?
The one you’ll do consistently.
2. Become an expert at one traffic generation method.
What’s a beginner website owner to do? Should they use pay-per-click advertising? Perhaps they should go for search engine optimization? Maybe social media? Or perhaps publicity? How about affiliates?
Try to do it all…and you’ll be a quivering mass of confusion.
Of the clients I work with, each one is an expert at one form of traffic for their business.
One does PPC. Another does SEO. Still another does affiliate promotions primarily.
And here’s what’s interesting from what I’ve seen.
In many cases it is MUCH EASIER to enter a new niche with your traffic skillset than it is to open up another source of traffic for your current one.
I wouldn’t have predicted this until seeing it happen time and time again.
Let’s say Business Owner A is generating traffic to his site with PPC. He feels he is really maximizing the traffic he can get here. He decides to expand his traffic out into another method – such as social media.
This CAN work with some serious practice.
What’s often easier is to take that PPC skill and apply it to a different market. So eventually they find themselves in 2 or 3 markets (or more)…using PPC as the driving factor in each.
The same rule applies to the other forms of traffic (I’ve seen it multiple times on both the SEO and affiliate sides also). While every beginner seems to struggle forever on what niche they should be in, developing the three skills I’m laying out here are more important.
If you have the skill for this market, you can use it in the others.
3. Become an expert at a method of persuasion.
Copywriting, audios, and videos (look there are those 3 forms of content creation again).
We could add the fourth form of content here as well (experiential – or live meetings through teleconferences, webinars, and workshops).
Those who achieve success become extremely efficient at persuasion in at least one of its forms (the skills do transfer but you’ll find people focus on a primary one).
If you don’t like selling…then business will be tough. Everybody has to persuade people in one way or another.
The site selling advertising has to sell to advertisers. The affiliate has to sell people are clicking through to the merchant. Even the blogger must “sell” people on coming back to their site.
You are in sales whether you like it or not (the sooner you stop fighting this truth the quicker you can succeed online).
Which method will you focus on? That depends on you and your market. The principle here is that you need to focus on persuasion skills one way or another.
The good news is some of the best training you’ll ever have are not in multi-thousand dollar courses. They’re in the copywriting classics – Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples for one example. EVERY internet business owner should own a copy of this book.
3 Skills Determine Your Future Online
I’ve seen people who started in one niche, achieved a small amount of success, and then took what they learned in these 3 areas to dominate in another market.
Perhaps we shouldn’t focus so much on quick success or even finding the perfect niche from day one…as we do on developing these 3 skills that determine our future online.
Which content method, traffic method, and persuasion method is right for you? I don’t know. Perhaps you should TEST them and see which one fits you best. What I do know is every single successful client is stronger in one of each of these areas than they are in the others.
For those of you who enjoy the audio, I highly recommend checking out the Ultimate Interview Product Solution I did with Fred Gleeck on creating your own Interview products. It shows you how to create content and products…using other people’s information.
Related Entries:- Art of Persuasion
- 7 Ways to Make Money Online
- Expertise Equals Income
- 10 Ways to Really Make Money Online
- Continuity is King
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Thank you for the post Terry. It definitely opened my eyes that every single person is unique in his or her own way.
What works for person A might not work for person B. The key is to focus on your strengths instead of trying to find solutions for your weaknesses.
Cheers!
This is really a different way to look at success. I had never thought of it in this way before, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense.
I always thought having a niche that resonated with you was more important, but I can see where having skills that can transfer from one niche to another is really useful and maybe even more important than the niche.
Definitely great food for thought!
Great tips Terry. I made the mistake of not mastering and following through with any method. I jumped from one thing to another and just didn’t have any focus. I’ve since learned how to follow through with each task to the point of success.
Terry, I try to read most of your blog posts because they’re all very good. But this one is a gem. It’s actually worth reading twice. It seems so simplistic that it’s easy to miss the great lesson here. Anybody that’s been doing internet marketing for a while can relate to it.
I forget where I read this, but it was so enlightening it’s become my motto; “Focus is about subtraction, not addition.”
Thanks for a another great post!
Hi Terry
As always a really thought provoking article. I particularly like your traffic generation comment. We are often asked about PPC services and people look really surprised when we say we don’t do it!
At least now I have something to say. Being creative nyself I tend to have three or four different ideas a day so being ficcused on one would be useful.
Thanks
Denise
Terry, this really is a great post. The tips you have indicated here is an essential for those who wants to venture their sales through the internet. Although some business persons prefer PPCs they should always take note that not all viewers are interested. Like what Cheryl Clausen stated from her blog post titled Your Small Business Can’t Survive without Effective Marketing, you should always think of your best advertising way.
Keep it up!
All in all, you need to become an expert to achieve great success. Focus can really determine your future. Most people don’t have enough courage and patience to pursue their goals. That’s the main reason why not all become successful in any field they have chosen.
[...] also the basis of some of my other recent articles such as One Way to Success Online. When looking at how all my most successful clients operate, I noticed each of them focuses on ONE [...]
Terry,
I’m new to blogging, having recently started one only a few months ago. It is a bit overwhelming trying to figure out all the new terminology and lingo related to traffic generation and content, this post really simplified everything down to a few key ingredients…
1) Master one type of content
2) master one type of traffic generation
3) master persuasive ability
4) …and keep growing your skills.
This gives me a great starting point. I appreciate the post. God bless.
[...] But take a look at EVERY breakthrough you had…it was a building process to get you up to that point. The majority of the time, the building process took place as you grew in one of the 3 skills we all need to master. [...]
Being an expert means you need to master what you’re doing considering it’s the right way of doing things. However, you must still be open to any improvements. Not just plainly rely on what you believe. Hard work is the main factor to be successful any kind of business.