Are You Suffering From Internet Marketing Information Overload?
May 15th, 2008 by CourtEarlier this week I had a very interesting conversation with one of my consulting clients. She has been working on her online business for a little over a year, and has followed quite a few ‘make money online’ blogs and sites during that time period. She expressed to me a concern that I would imagine many of you are dealing with.
I can’t remember the exact wording of what she asked, but it was something like this, “Court, what you’re telling me just seems too simple. I’ve been reading and reading and honestly I’m starting to feel like I’m never going to understand everything I need to learn.”
I’m going to tell you what I told her, and sincerely I hope that this helps you to gain some perspective.
One of the biggest challenges of being a ‘make money online’ blogger is that people’s attention spans are very very short. Everyone has literally hundreds of options of sites to read. This creates a lot of pressure for MMO bloggers to create content that compels. A lot of the time, this means that they have to create something downright sensational to get any attention.
Everyone wants to break the next big news, product, or technique and this often comes at the expense of talking about the stuff that really works. You aren’t going to read much about the nuts and bolts of marketing online on many of the sites (of course there are exceptions). Why? Because that stuff doesn’t grab people’s attention.
Here’s what I find funny. I have lots of friends that ask me how to do this stuff. I’ll show them how to choose a keyword and will then help them set up a domain and hosting. I will then teach them how to create content and build links. Since they haven’t read all of the sensational stuff that doesn’t matter as much, they get right to work. They don’t question. They get the results we thought they would get.
When I get the chance to talk to people from the MMO world, it’s a VERY different story. They usually ask like 5,000 questions about this technique and that one. Usually when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, they aren’t doing the tasks that are the most important.
What are the most important tasks?
Building content and links.
Building content and links.
Building content and links.
Building content and links.
There’s nothing wrong with reading MMO blogs. But… if you let the sensational stuff get in the way of the stuff that is going to make your business grow, I’m afraid that you will run into a lot of frustration and confusion.
Internet marketing has become very social. But… if you’re frustrated about your results and have no idea why, you’re probably working on the wrong things.
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May 15th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Court,
You got it right when you said that people have short attention spans. If results don’t happen right away, it is easy to think that you are doing something wrong and set off in search of the latest and greatest method to make money and increase traffic. What ends up happening is that you do a little bit of a lot of things and that just doesn’t add up.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Neena! It’s so good to hear from you! Thanks for your thoughts, which were totally correct. How have you been?
May 15th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Content and links are huge! At times I find that I get overloaded with information, but when I take a step back and look at the big picture, it has been content and a crap load of links back to my sites that have gotten me anywhere.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
That’s definitely how it works Greg. I know that there are a lot of social avenues for getting traffic now, but it’s SO nice to get a steady stream from Google, Yahoo, and other search engines. To get that, you gave the best formula, “content and a crap load of links”.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
So simple, yet so powerful. It’s definitely easy to get caught up with all the other stuff out there, and sometimes I catch myself doing just that. But then I normally reel myself in and remind myself that writing unique and interesting content, and building backlinks, are really the only things I need to get my blog off the ground.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:55 am
The core activities are simple. It’s best to keep them that way. Only add as many details as you need to get the job done for each specific case.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
We tend to needlessly over-complicate stuff!
“Get all your ducks in a row…” is the anti-thesis.
If you follow the 80/20 rule, you gotta accept that some stuff is just done gonna-get-done…
My $0.02,
leo
May 15th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Excellent reminder of sticking to the basics and what really works.
I’ve now posted it on my desk wall.
Content
And
Links
Jamie
May 15th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
“Build content and links” spawns a huge number of follow up questions, doesn’t it? People get bogged down in the details and forget the basics. Like Vince Lombardi said “Remember that all talent is founded on fundamentals and that fundamentals win it.”
May 15th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Hell Court, I get sidetracked too much just by your site every time I’m here trying to figure something out (just realized it’s happening again), so I’m pleased I don’t subscribe to any more! I am trying to stick to the important stuff……..but it is real difficult at times - I’m an information junkie.
May 15th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Court,
What you describe is simple and hold true, the problem though is that we humans tend to favors the sensational. It’s like driving by an accident, you should have to look, or a crowd gathered at a corner, you simply have to see what’s going on. It reminds me of an old TV skit where a fellow is standing at the corner looking up at the sky. Before you know it there is a crowd around him looking up at the sky. The thing is he is looking up because he hurt is neck and can only look up.
We sometimes look up to see what the commotion is all about, and find ourselves absorb in useless activities that don’t make money. We all just need to keep our heads down for a while.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
[…] http://courtneytuttle.com/2008/05/15/are-you-suffering-from-internet-marketing-information-overload/ […]
May 15th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Court,
I’m new to your site within the past month or two and I appreciate your candor. I am now concentrating on 2 ways(keyword sniping is one) to MMO instead of being overloaded with the tons of way to make money and you’ve been a big help to keeping it simple.
Quick question for you on keyword sniping. Your sniping comments are in the hundreds, and I’ve looked but couldn’t find an answer to my question. If your keyword has a popular brand name in it, ex. “kawasaki motorscooters”, and you want to do a snipe on that term, how do you pick a domain name without infringing on their copyright? Is it okay to just use “motorscootersgalore.com” or can I use “kawasakimotorscootersgalore.com” without having kawasaki getting legally upset with me?
Thanks
May 15th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
You don’t! Use a different domain name, one that doesn’t have the company name in it. You will still do just fine.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Yeah.. You don’t need the keyword on the domain to get huge weights of the search engine. All you need is to put it in the Title or Meta keywords. =D
May 15th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
It really depends on the company.
Some don’t mind as long as you’re selling their stuff and are reasonably positive about it.
Other’s are really anal about their brand and will “cease and desist” over the slightest thing. For example, Prince C&D-ing fans over pictures of their Prince tattoos on their website.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Three blogs in my feed reader. Court, Vic and Grizz. I must admit to sneaking a quick look at Frank C (optempo.com) every now and then though.
Too busy for anything else (thanks to the above 3’s advice). Dont even get me started on the twiter and stumble nonsense.
Dave
May 15th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Thanks Dave. I try to have something useful from an IM perspective about every 10-14 days or so with a lot of search engine bait posts in-between.
May 15th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
It is so easy to suffer from information overload and when that happens I have no idea where to start or what to do. To rectify that I have found that limiting what I read helps. Some blogs are just a replay of others and nothing new. So even though I was reading repeats I will still getting information overload. So now I reduced what I read, take it in smaller chunks so I can digest it and make sure it is not a replay of the others.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Thanks, Court and Frank C. I suppose the “motorscootersgalore.com” type of domain would let me branch out eventually to more keywords, ie, yamaha, honda, etc. Thanks for the advice.
May 15th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Court,
I think what you clearly illustrate is the lack of trust exhibited by the MMO crowd. They’ve been used and they’ve been abused, so even though you don’t look like a wolf, and you don’t smell like a wolf… you sure SOUND like a wolf, so they’d better be careful.
Meanwhile, the people who haven’t been “beaten up” by the MMO gurus say, “OK! I trust you and it makes sense!” They do what you say… and VIOLA! Results.
Then again, you’re not promising to reveal how “I make $55, 125 in two days with 1 blog” either which is why I hang on your every word!
May 15th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Hi Court,
Thanks for the post.. Quick question: Would you recommend using a different template for keyword sniping? For example, if hundreds of people use your keyword sniping template, will google penalize the sites if someone starts using blackhat tactics using your template? Is it better to hire someone to seo a wordpress template?
May 15th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Ron that wouldn’t be typical of Google’s behavior, but I now have over 100 SEO templates so just choose one.
May 15th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Ah! This is so true. It is so easy to get sidetracked from what the core business model is. Except for finding the right keywords this is pretty simple. Not easy but simple!
Besides it is a documented fact that most IM people have some form of ADD and it is very difficult to stay focused.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Content and links…
Court you are, as usual, dead on the money and yet people still think there is some “secret” out there that the successful marketers aren’t revealing. It is time consuming and it involves work but the concept is just so simple that people don’t want to believe that this is all you really need to make money online. Optimize your content and get a ton of backlinks - the search engines will bring you the money. Everything else is just fluff.
Kudos Court - sometimes people need to hear the simple answer whether they believe it or not..
May 15th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Thanks to you and Griz and Vic I have finally learned that lesson myself. It really is easy, the problem is the damn time it takes.
May 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
How true this is, when I first started I read maybe 15,000 pages of different guides and tutorials and how-to’s on IM and AM, with all that I am still surprised that I was able to see the BIG and CLEAR picture! Stay away from the over complicated, good IM strategies are NOT, they are surprisingly simple, all though time consuming, and the simple things work best–quality relevant content and link building!!
Thanks Court!
Olga
May 15th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I have to admit that I’ve been guilty of reading a lot of MMO posts which caused me to wonder which “school of thought” is the right method to follow. I think if we stick with the basics of putting up quality content and focus on building links, the results will follow. I define success with 3 P’s, Patience, Persistence and Perseverance.
Thanks for your continued effort to keep us focused on what’s important to be successful!
Sal
May 16th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I appreciate and basically agree with your simplified approach, Court, but… aren’t there “more efficient” or “more effective” content production/link building methods that it *behooves us* as business people to learn about and keep on top of? In the case of content, the former is sometimes accomplished with a tool of some sort, and the latter may be achieved with an awareness/application of SEO techniques.
That’s my conundrum, I think: Finding the balance between working harder and working smarter; between staying the course and being open to new ideas; between “being the blender” and “being the crockpot.”
Then again, that may just be my own buttered-up way of saying I’m looking for the “eat anything you want, never exercise again and still lose weight!” approach to Internet success.
I’m pretty new to your blog, btw, and I’m really enjoying it. Keep up the great work, and mahalo ihi for all that you share!
Aloha,
Debi
May 16th, 2008 at 1:07 am
It seems that everyone has there own approach and these often contradict even to the point of polar opposites in the MMO world. You read one thing one day and think great that’s the secret then the next day you read the complete opposite on another blog. Whose right, the only way you will ever know is to try it for yourself.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:07 am
I happened to find Blogger Unleashed two weeks ago and so now have found your site as well. Thanks for laying out a sound business plan and being realistic about how to implement it.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Content and links, cant deny that those are imporant. But i guess most people tend to concentrate on the content, but not the links. How are you gonna attract people if you aren’t linked. You may have a shitload of good stuff, but people wont know.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Good article should one really once to hearts take oneself.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Building content and links.
Building content and links.
Building content and links.
down to the core! nothing fancy. bring the nuts n bolts that everyone needs in a clear and simple manner. content 1st sensational stuff 2nd
lol i myself get caught up with sensational stuff and forgot what my real purpose of surfing the net sometimes.. oh well.. caught my attention anyway
May 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Nowadays, information is always too much in the internet. There are more unwanted info than wanted. Keyword is important so that the site won’t be mixed up with the unwanted,
May 17th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
It’s like making a banana split. .you need ice cream and bananas = content & links. Everyone focuses on the toppings.
May 17th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I love to exchange links but I will sort out what type of links I accept to avoid too many links exchange..
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:15 am
of course suffer, everyday delete few hundreds of junk mail, but still no prog can block it…
May 24th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Hi, Court,
Vedis here. Thanks for all the free tips.
I am practicing what you and Griz taught to see if I can make money from Google AdSense….;D
Building contents and links really needs discipline and persistence. I keep reminding myself to stop looking for more ways to make money. Instead, spend more time writing articles and submitting them to article directories.
Finding keywords, writing blog posts, submitting to article articles, building links. Finding keywords, writing blog posts, submitting to article articles, building links …repeat and repeat…
May 25th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Hi Court,
I find that whenever I feel myself getting completely overwhelmed with trying to follow this advice or that advice, I have to return to this post and reinforce the message from it. Content and links! As ridiculous as it seems, I find myself concentrating on everything but content. Thank God your site is here to refocus where my energy should be directed.
May 27th, 2008 at 4:01 am
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May 29th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I just started my own blog this month, with a lot of help from this site (specifically 5,263 on starting a blog). It does seem like a lot, but I have found other bloggers that have been more than friendly in helping me build my site.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:04 am
[…] Tuttle recently wrote about the dangers of suffering from Internet Marketing information overload! He said that the reason so many marketers fail to make money is because they try too many things. […]
July 31st, 2008 at 6:09 am
[…] Tuttle of Court’s Internet Marketing School, answers the question of what is the most important task when it comes to internet marketing. He […]
August 12th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Court,
This is so very true.
I just caught myself reading a bit too much today, and catching up on what the “gurus” are doing… then I looked at my clock and went right of to keyword research and content creation.
Information overload is an Internet Marketer’s Achilles’s heel!
I appreciate you!
Dali Burgado
August 12th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
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