Internet Marketing isn’t as Difficult as it Seems!
August 28th, 2008 | 45 comments
This is a topic I’ve been wanting to get off of my chest for a while now. I’m pretty sure there will be people who completely disagree with me on this, but I believe it to be true, in general, when it comes to Internet Marketing, and I’m guessing, in any industry.
People make things out to be much more difficult than they really are!
In most cases it’s because these people are told things are more difficult than they really are from people who know better, but want to make some money selling them something!
One of the best examples, in our industry, is “duplicate content.” Holy sh**! How many sales pages have you seen with a headline similar to “Don’t Get Penalized for “Duplicate Content” lol
Why do they do it? Because people REALLY think duplicate content is a website KILLER! When in all reality, duplicate content is a natural part of the Internet and unless you get out of control and spam a page to hundreds and hundreds of sites, you can certainly get away with duplicate content.
Most of these product owners know this, but they also know that people are willing to pay to “prevent” something catastrophic from happening, even though that catastrophe wouldn’t have happened anyway!
But it’s not just products, it’s blogs, newsletter and pretty much every model that brings in money for people. Simply stated, most people in this industry, and most others, are biased because they make money in one way or another through what they write about!
You have to think about WHO is giving the advice. For instance, Christopher Knight (publisher of EzineArticles.com) constantly puts out information on article marketing. As the publisher of such a dominant article directory, you’d think he’s the prime person to get advice on article marketing from, right?
If you ask me, WRONG! He’s the “Go to guy” if you want to learn how to get a solid, authoritative article directory going, but what does he really know about article marketing? I consider what he says because he has access to data from the Internet’s most authoritative article directory, but I would NEVER take his “advice” to heart, because as the publisher of the article directory his advice is extremely biased!
Just because I stand on stilts doesn’t mean I really know how it is to be 10 foot tall!
I guess my point is this: There is no shortage of information out there on every single aspect of Internet marketing. You can quickly and easily find out the primary winning formulas for each and every model. The trick is to keep them simple and take action!
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28th August, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Nothing could be so spot on. I see so many people on the forums asking the same questions and worrying about the same stuff over an over its crazy. I recently stopped getting emails form marketers (except yours) and focus on what i know works. Its paying off nicely.
28th August, 2008 at 4:31 pm
As a beginner is it very easy to spend a lot of time thinking that you are doing something wrong or there is a better way of doing something. As a result you spend all day researching and doing nothing.
Right now I’ve taken action and I’m making it a habit to write 2 articles a day and submit them. Following your technique. By the end of the year that will be a lot of articles.
By the way Article post robot is doing most of the work for me, what brilliant software. Couple that with instant article wizard pro and really I’m not doing that much work.
Good advice though
28th August, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I’ve had to deal with another source of duplicate content: People who copy my articles (or parts of them) and post them online at forums, their own websites, and so on. If you have good content, there’s almost no way to prevent duplicates from appearing online. I think that search engines realize this, and they don’t penalize us unless they’re seeing articles spammed across hundreds of sites.
28th August, 2008 at 4:47 pm
You’re absolutely right Josh. I think it’s much better to get advice from people that actually make a living from different streams rather than a biased view from a publisher.
I noticed that posting the same video on multiple sites still gets spidered and ranked by the search engines. It’s as if they’ve got they’re favourite trusted sites (usually the big boys like Yahoo Aol Youtube etc).
I’m testing the duplicate theory by posting the same article in ezinearticles and my blog and it seems you’re right.
What is interesting though is articles about anything to do with eBay posted on eBay seem to get a whole lot of love from the search engines, especially Google. The only drawback is you can’t put external links back to your own website. gets your name about though!
28th August, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Josh - spot on information, if duplicate content was a real issue all the news syndication sites would be out of business over night. As you say, don’t spam and you will not go wrong!
28th August, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Well Josh, to admit your basic point is kind of embarrassing.
If I think I’m smart ( and I do ) and yet I’m working very hard…then I’m left to explain why I’m not earning what I think I should!
Some of it is just working your way along the learning curve and some of it is misinformation - from sources too numerous to mention!
All The best
Alex
28th August, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Josh,
Great post and good advice, especially for folks that are new. A lot of us have done this, don’t buy nearly every single thing the guru’s, and I use that term lightly, are trying to sell you. Find a great internet marketing system product that works for you to make “YOU” money and run with it. If you buy too many new things it complicates this basic process greatly. Stick with things that work for you and with people that you trust. This is about you succeeding, not making everyone else wealthy buying there latest and greatest products.
28th August, 2008 at 4:58 pm
@ Alex - It’s not about how smart you are… that’s the beauty of entrepreneurship! It’s actually not really about how hard you work either… we don’t work on production rates.
It’s about finding what works, keeping it simple and taking action.
Just about everyone online does the same thing… it’s natural to overthink things. I’m just pointing out something I’ve noticed, so hopefully a few people will stop and reassess their time management.
28th August, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Nicely done, Josh!
I love this line:
Just because I stand on stilts doesn’t mean I really know how it is to be 10 foot tall!
I once subscribed to the school of thought that duplicate content was a site killer. Not that I won’t give it a healthy dose of respect, but when you think about it, the Web is huge and to think that there won’t be duplicated content (to some degree) without even trying is mind boggling.
28th August, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Very good points.
I believe what makes it difficult for newcomers to Internet marketing is that they don’t know who to believe. So they listen to one “guru” for awhile and then another “guru” comes along with a different take, and this goes on and on.
People come online looking for direction and they’re sent in hundreds of different directions.
It’s not until a newcomers settles on a single business model and focuses all his or her energy on that model that Internet marketing becomes “easy.”
28th August, 2008 at 5:21 pm
As usual another great article. I know people make things tougher than they are. They think that the system (whatever they are doing) is written in stone, when it is not. It is only a guide to bigger and better things. In fact someone can come up with something that no one has thought of.
Steve
28th August, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hi Josh,
Your right what you say Josh. An aspect about Internet Marketing is all about leaning a niche inside out and writing brilliant content about it.
Pick an in the middle, not to competitive keyword and write a themed based website on that subject and eventually you could win for that subject, if you have enough excelent content written up.
Well I make a full time income on the internet with that principle Josh because I get up every day and write my sites up.
It’s all about taking action… that’s the secret to success people!
Robert
28th August, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Hey Josh, great post! I have gradually come to the realization that Internet marketers have to create the fear if they are to sell anything in the overheated, totally saturated, market for “how to sell on the internet” products.
Stewart
28th August, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Great post Josh!
It’s easy for newbies and experienced marketers alike to suffer from information overload. Sometimes you just have to ignore your email and stay out of forums for awhile in order to make some actual progress.
There’s so many conflicting reports and opinions out there. You just have to find what works best for you and run with it.
28th August, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Good info Josh. I help some folks with their website, making some changes and updates. And they heard from someone they think is an “authority”, who told them that Google will blast their site if they add any duplicate content. Needless to say it’s been a challenge to change their way of thinking.
I appreciate the great advice you give on a regular basis!
28th August, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Totally agree with you Josh… I have just realized in the last few months, your success in IM is limited by your desire.
It takes a paradigm shift to get used to businesses/websites being setup instantly and potentially make money the next day! It was never possible in the offline world… guess we need to get used to this leap of evolution
28th August, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Article quote: “There is no shortage of information out there on every single aspect of Internet marketing. You can quickly and easily find out the primary winning formulas for each and every model. The trick is to keep them simple and take action!”
You said it there in a nutshell, Josh!
Find (or create) a good product that is in high demand, design an effective website to promote it, and start driving targeted traffic toward it. It sounds simple, but can be a lot of work, even so. Especially the “driving targeted traffic” part. Yet, you only have to do the work once (and maybe revise or update it on occasion, which doesn’t take too much effort).
Yet, as others here have said, and as you pointed out, there is an awful lot of conflicting information out there for people to blunder through. It’s just a matter of recognizing what works and doing it: taking action!
28th August, 2008 at 7:26 pm
[...] In his latest post he pretty much summed up the main concept of my blog: Internet Marketing Isn’t As Difficult As It Seems! [...]
28th August, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I’ll I can say is “Amen”. I’m glad someone put it as bluntly as that. It has taken me 3 years to figure this one out, and hundreds of dollars too. The duplicate content myth has been bantied around for a couple of years now and you still see people sweating it in forums about this topic. Moral of the story…keep it simple and don’t believe everything you read in a sales letter.
28th August, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I wouldn’t say it was easy, but if you don’t take action it sure is hard to make it happen.
28th August, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Josh,
Thanks for setting the story straight and in simple language about the myth of duplicate content.
I am new to IM and have pondered over this and yours is not the first article I have read that addresses the issue. It is the most down to earth article however.
Keep up the great work.
28th August, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I guess it comes down to this:
Put out article with similar content gives 2 different bites of the same pie- different density, different information..another chance to rank.
Do you know if anyone has done a test using articles, to see if the links count from the same article going out?
28th August, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Another great..”Tell It Like It Is” post Josh!
I have heard that smae argument I don’t know how many times. I don’t neccessarily buy into the hype about duplicate content but, you definitely having me swaying to your side.
Thanks for keeping it real..and not constantly trying to sell something…other than giving your FREE advice and expertise!
29th August, 2008 at 1:48 am
The best thing that happened to me in the past year was to stop spending all my time on creating information sites that just make adsense revenue and very little at that, to actually developing a product and service that people will actually pay me for. I am actually getting recurring paypal monthly payments on my site for the first time ever, now that is inspiring to keep that concept going.
29th August, 2008 at 2:12 am
I agree Josh. I’ve always tried to commit to the K.I.S.S. principle whether online or off. Over-analysis has a bad habit of leading to non-action.
29th August, 2008 at 2:35 am
I agree with your statements about chris knight. There’s some conflict of interest when he gives article marketing advice.
He recommends that we stop worrying about how much traffic click on our links in the bio box and just pump out as many articles as possible.
Our gain is his loss since a more effective bio box means less traffic clicking on ads in the article page.
29th August, 2008 at 4:39 am
Actually Internet Marketing doesn’t ’seem’ to be difficult at all, and the more tests I do, the more I find that very simple techniques are the most effective, so well said Josh.
Got to take exception on duplicate content though. This is something I’ve tested in great detail and it DOES make a big difference, but very few people de-duplicate in the right way. I won’t take up space here on the subject, but it’s a lot more sophisticated than a lot of marketers providing the ‘answers’ will have you believe. Get it right and one particular marketing technique becomes absolutely killer!
29th August, 2008 at 6:16 am
Josh, I have only just started reading some of your stuff, and I must say that I am glad I did. Real life info without the hype. Thanks.
29th August, 2008 at 6:35 am
Great info, as always, Josh! Thanks. And the last two words in your post, are the most important ones: Take Action. That is the only road to success in this business.
29th August, 2008 at 6:38 am
I came to this business by mistake. I wrote a load of content (much of it was database-generated) about something that I am interested in and the visitors came flooding in. I couldnt see exactly what they got out of my site, but I could see that I wasn’t getting anything out of them so I took on adsense.
I now get a small regular income, which I am trying to repeat with other sites.
And it is HARD to increase my income. But honestly I just don’t/can’t put enough effort in to make the new sites GO. (because I have other business interests in these, my retirement years)
I think you’re right - it is simple but you have to put in the effort at the start.
29th August, 2008 at 6:47 am
Hi Josh,
Well this all too true! I’m a newbie and have discovered that gee whiz, if you put up some great content and add to it every so often Google recognises that and rewards it.
Duplicate content is a ‘fear’ I had but no time to search through the maze to discover if it is a myth or not…Thank you for clearing it up, one less thing to do that would have slowed down my ‘adding great content’ time and writing articles…. which really do work!
Great post…again, thanks Josh.
29th August, 2008 at 11:22 am
Hi Josh
Great post as always pushing me on to actually do something rather than thinking abou it!
I do have one question relating to your $5/day formula which is an area where I am finding a bit of difficulty. Perhaps this is a complicated question or perhaps I’m just being dumb!
I selected some keywords in the debt niche since this is (sadly) something that I have past experience of and also the CPC on spyfu is very good.
I put one artlice up on ezinearticles.com for a keyword that I selected because it wasn’t being targeted in the page titles of the sites on page 1 in google. Looking at the google ranking for the article on this keyword gives the following results:
Google.com broad match position 23
Google.com exact match position 4
Google.co.uk broad match position 420!!
Google.co.uk exact match position 44
(Suprisingly no traffic from this article).
This brings 3 questions to mind:
1. When going through the competition analysis how do you balance authority against whether the pages have the keyword in their title?
2. If you had this situation what would you do (I know you would probably have just chosen better keywords
). I could bookmark the article to try and boost it some, but it probably isn’t going to make much difference. I could add this article to my site and try to build links to it there. Or I could just give up and move on?
3. The difference between the google.com and google.co.uk rankings brings to mind a discussion I had with you and some of your other readers. It is obviously because ezinearticles.com is hosted in the US. My question is, do you host your mini sites in a different place if you are targeting UK-specific keywords (like the mortgage one that you used as an example)
There you are, give me something simple and I will still try and make it complicated
Many thanks for your time
Neil
29th August, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Another complication I think is that people aren’t always successful for the reason they think.
Without mentioning names (but Josh is not among them) some of those who believe their success is due to their great content and superb, from my assessment have got it wrong.
Even those who are successful disagree - they can’t all be right.
So my thanks to Josh and how I agree with taking action and keeping it simple. What a breath of fresh air to hear this.
29th August, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Good places to get info: forums, maybe one or two blogs, and clever internet searches.
Bad places: Any $97 internet marketing software of _any_ kind.
30th August, 2008 at 5:31 am
I may be new to internet business but, One thing I have learn from owning my own business for 25yrs. is that I really have been marketing all my life I just did not realize this until about 10 years ago. Sense then my business sky rocketed. There is no real secret to marketing, just be your self, apply your natural ability’s and take action.
30th August, 2008 at 7:17 pm
@ Neil - Why are you looking at broad match etc.? Who cares? What matters is how much search volume the phrases you’re targeting have and how strong the top 10 results are in the SERPS. The # of results etc. don’t matter. People who say they are don’t know what they’re talking about!
We have some in depth discussions on keyword research over at the forum. If you want to pick my brain on the formula or anything else you may want to look into that http://www.CoachingWithJosh.com/
31st August, 2008 at 3:17 am
I agree with this one. And I wish I had figured this out about a year and a half ago, when I first started working on this and felt oh-so intimidated by all the techie stuff.
I could have saved myself a fortune!
31st August, 2008 at 8:06 pm
I totally agree Josh. Too many people are sent on wild goose chases trying to stop duplicate content, or make millions overnight with the latest product. Internet Marketing is easy. The hard part is sticking to your plan and not getting distracted by the constant offers of instant success!
cheers
Tony
1st September, 2008 at 9:41 pm
You are so right, once you learn the proper techniques and steps of IM, and get the experience of implementing them it becomes very easy.
3rd September, 2008 at 11:08 am
I like your opinion. Actually in internet area we can’t save our articles or content from being duplicate because of its wide network.
Internet marketing isn’t as difficult as it seems but it may be too hard for a person who doesn’t like hard work.
5th September, 2008 at 11:58 am
I got into a discussion recently on a forum about duplicate content and no one would believe me about not being penalized. They all seemed to be brainwashed and think that duplicate content is a deadly sin!
I have learnt much from you, especially about keeping things simple.
Barb
5th September, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Josh,
Seriously, your blog and free reports have been a big help. I HAVE to quit my job and work full time for myself. So, enough is enough - I know I’m making it harder than I need to. This week I have really gotten my butt in gear to accomplish this goal. I have unsubscribed to a bunch of people, stopped reading so much, and started working on my projects. Now, the only think that is missing is a mentor/coach. So, I’ll be signing up with you and I hope you can help me get my internet business off the ground.
You’ll see me on the inside - tomorrow!
11th September, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I agree with you completely. Make your own decisions, research what people say and make your own choices see if something works and build on it.
12th September, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I never knew duplicate articles could cause a problem. That makes sense in one way, but what if the wrong article got penalized? What if a good article just happened to show up in different places because of how good they are? I agree that most of the time people in the trenches are the wrong people to go to, marketing articles is just too difficult and bias opinions can complicate matters.
28th September, 2008 at 10:48 am
Nice article. Duplicate content is reality of internet as i feel till now. But we have to make some content with morality so website visitors can surely get benefit.
If I want to suggest someone to do work with adsense then i have to tell same procedure which all websites telling. So in reality its natural.