The Truth About Most Online Marketing Gurus?

They Aren’t Gurus!

But I am getting ahead of myself! Let me explain. And yes, I will get to the survey and who the top 10 Gurus are. At least the Top 10 Gurus as far as the residents of Lakewood, Ohio are concerned.

But again, I need to explain.

When I first started my Internet quest, my first fledgling steps towards making a living online, I read anything and everything I could get my hands on in order to get a good start. In fact, I told my wife I was going to pursue it as if I were pursuing a second doctorate, this one in Internet marketing. I had a lot of time on my hands and I was intrigued. And, I didn’t want to work for anyone else ever again…on that point I was dead certain.

So, the entrepreneur’s life was for me…once again!

It was very early in my quest for Internet marketing knowledge and I was wrestling with a ton of information from a myriad of sources. I was at the point we all get to early on…information overload coupled with the uncertainty that comes with it.

Who was I to listen to?

Who were the authorities?

That was the point at which I was exposed to the phrase:

“Internet Marketing Guru”

During my initial Internet marketing studies, while attempting to figure out this whole marketing money online thing, I was exposed to the very best and the absolute worst the Internet has to offer; and that included many so-called “gurus.”

While searching for information, the nuts and bolts I needed to make my Internet marketing quest a success, I took time to dig deep into the offerings of many of the best known Internet marketing “gurus.”

Significantly, I also spent time reviewing the thoughts and ideas of some of the leading MLM “gurus,” although I sincerely wanted no part of the whole “MLM thing,” it was interesting. I also looked at a lot of material being produced by some of the less-known “wannabe gurus,” some just then beginning to make their own way online.

Yet many of them were already calling themselves Internet marketing “gurus!”

The education was an interesting mix of concepts and ideas, an education to be sure. But it was not the education I had envisioned when I started off. It was more about the state of the Internet and the quality (or lack thereof) of the information itself.

The education was less about the practical, nuts and bolts, A through Z approach to making money online I had thought it would be, and more about hazy concepts, why I should buy more of so-and-so’s products, and a ton of outdated material!

I discovered one thing early on in my Internet quest:

The only reason many of the Internet marketing “gurus” were being called “gurus” was because they referred to themselves as such!

In other words, they were self-appointed, self-pronounced “gurus” and nothing more.

Sadly, this remains the case through this writing!

The fact is, many marketing “gurus,” and this holds true more for online than offline marketing, have little, if any, real world marketing experience.

Incredibly, a vast number of these Internet marketing “gurus” have absolutely no “real world,” meaning offline, business experience at all!

This has real implications for those individuals in the inbound marketing consulting field because an understanding of how traditional, brick and mortar business is crucial. Not only is some sort of real world, nuts and bolts experience necessary for practical purposes, it is crucial for both perception and empathy.

The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed!

So, I learned two things early on in my Internet marketing, online business education, my Internet Marketing Quest Revealed:

1. There are very few Internet marketing “gurus” worthy of the designation, and all that comes with it.
2. Most Internet marketing “gurus” are simply slick marketers, I will give them that, individuals who are salesmen and saleswomen pushing a particular business perspective…and the products along with it, usually their own.

I realize the definition, and indeed the meaning, of the term Guru has changed somewhat over the years.

However, as far as I am concerned, a Guru is someone who places the welfare of others above their own in order to add to the “greater good.” A Guru is one who seeks to educate and enlighten others, not for financial gain but to enhance the well-being of their followers, those receptive to and following their message.

Naive?

Perhaps!

Let’s look at the term Guru for a moment.

Wikipedia (who else) offers a definition from the more traditional, religious perspective…and then adds to it:

A guru…is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher)….As a principle for the development of consciousness it leads the creation [the individual] from…ignorance to the light of knowledge. In its purest form this principle manifests on earth as a divine incarnation (saint), a person with supreme knowledge about God and all creation.

Other forms of manifestation of this principle also include parents, school teachers, non-human objects, and even one’s own intellectual discipline.

….the word “guru” is widely used with the general meaning of “teacher“. In Western usage, the meaning of guru has been extended to cover anyone who acquires followers, though not necessarily in an established school of philosophy or religion. In a further Western extension, guru is used to refer to a person who has authority because of his or her perceived secular knowledge or skills, such as in business….A guru is a spiritual teacher, but is also used to refer to anyone knowledgeable in a particular area (e.g. a computer guru). [bold and italicized passages altered to provide emphasis]

Here’s a very general perspective, if not a cut and dry definition for the term Guru:

• In the East and in the West gurus are thought of as:
  • Experts, “knowledgeable in a particular field,” sharing their knowledge with others
  • Teachers (usually but not always)
  • Having followers in one way or another
  • Individuals offering guidance
  • Individuals providing influence
  • Selfless individuals contributing to the greater good

Interestingly, if you were to ask a number of people at random who or what is the first thing to pop into your head when you think of the term “guru”?

What answer or definition do you think they would respond with?

I have written about this several times because it continues to be an issue for me and for others, based on the email and comments I get.

And, because this whole Internet marketing guru thing is perplexing to me!

So, three weeks ago I initiated a survey.

The survey was centered on one question:

What do people think of when you mention the term Guru?

I thought my answers would be very different from the ones half a world away, say, in India.

Now? I am not so sure.

The methodology was simple (and yes, less than scientific):

Ask anyone and everyone I ran into one question and then shut up!

Over a period of two weeks, while walking my dog, TuffGuy, I stopped virtually anyone and everyone I could and asked them the same question:

“What is the first thing that pops into your head when I say the word ‘Guru’?”

The survey was not scientific, as stated above, at least not in the strictest sense. But the selection was random, as random as I could make it.

The people were all from the Midwest, a fairly safe assumption given the fact that they were walking on the sidewalk, in Lakewood, Ohio.

The participants were from all walks of life, men and women, young and old, in every sort of dress imaginable, at various times of day and well into the evening, and so forth.

In total, there were 228 people and they took anywhere from 2 to 15 seconds to answer.

Interestingly, they all seemed to “shoot from the hip,” so to speak. Meaning, they all appeared to give it their best shot.

Yes, I had a couple of Ronald Mc Donalds, one Bugs Bunny, and one White Rabbit. The latter obviously a Lewis Carroll fan. Perhaps, more likely, a Johnny Depp fan? But many of the walks were late at night and the individuals who came up with these “off-remarks” seemed quite “happy,” if you know what I mean.

Their responses were thrown out, of course.

These are the top 10* responses (out of a total of 27 total responses):

1. Dalai Lama
2. Saint
3. Computer wiz
4. Bill Gates
5. The Pope
6. Teacher/Professor
7. Minister-Reverend-Priest
8. Billy Graham
9. Monk
10. Donald Trump-Steve Jobs

*I told all of the individuals who participated in this survey to give me the very first thing to pop into their heads, that they were not to consider it but to “go with your gut!”

Interestingly, 62% of the answers had a religious connotation and 23% had computer or computer business implications. The remainder of the responses were from the business world and included Warren Buffet, Richard Branson, and Stephen R. Covey; the field of sports and included Michael Jordan and Pat Riley; and, others included President Obama, Seth Godin, and Tony Robbins. Interestingly, while I failed to mention living gurus or gurus from the past, an oversight on my part, I still had 3 people mention Napoleon Hill and 1 mention Vince Lombardi.

The only mention of a marketing guru, in any way, shape, or form was Seth Godin!

The actual numbers are available upon written request and will be included in The Ultimate Internet Image’s new ebook, Inbound Marketing A through Z to be released on September 7, 2010 to subscribers of The Ultimate Internet Image.

Gurus?

Ultimately, we all assign meaning to labels in different ways. The problem I have with the phrase Internet marketing guru is that it rarely meets any sort of minimum standard, or rather the “Internet marketing gurus” do.

Or, more precisely, what my perception of what a Guru ought to be…is thought to be!

When all is said an done, one thing is clear:

There is a huge perception between the label and the reality.

The Label: Saint and Teacher, Selfless and Knowledgeable

The Reality: Salesman and Marketer, Slick and often Self-Serving

Interestingly, I started out to write a very different piece, my thoughts about one of the first products I purchased from a well-known, often well-thought of Internet marketing guru. The product was a very high-end product, a recycled seminar on DVD hungry students paid thousands of dollars to attend. The product is so full of information and so utterly and completely boring I have yet to get through it.

It is a narcissistic display in once sense and devoid of personality in another. Imagine conflating those two images…I know but it was the best I could do. It’s that bad. Honestly, it is truly awful.

And, it was created by an Internet marketing guru who is next to impossible to reach, completely unaccessible to all but a very small group in the Internet marketing guru clique, say that 5 times real fast.

And yet, he is very successful.

Go figure!

So, he is a slick marketer, a great salesman, and the antithesis of what a guru is all about.

At least to the way of thinking of 228 people from mainsteam America in the summer of 2010.

You see, while they have no idea who he is or what he is about, they do seem to have an idea who or what I Guru is…capital “G!”

The Dalai Lama on the other hand?

A man from a country halfway around the world, following a religion foreign to everyone I talked to, all agree in one thing…he is the embodiment of the term Guru…saint…teacher!

I guess the ultimate questions and the ultimate analysis comes down to this:

Do you want to be viewed and remembered as a slick salesman or do you want to make a lasting impression? Does anyone care what kind of car you drive or what kind of a house you live in or how much money you made on your last product launch? Or can you help push others up, better their stations in life, and help them achieve their dreams…in turn bettering your life and well-being through service to others?

Or you can just brag about how much money you made in how many minutes on your last product launch?

Guru or “guru”? It’s that cut and dried!

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, I hope they gave you food for thought. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think or share your story! I would love to hear it and it will add so much!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
The Internet Marketing Training and Services Company
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004

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• 

The Ning Violation

Is Ning’s Decision Good Business?

I usually write about Internet marketing, inbound marketing, online business, offline/online business, and the like here at The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed. This blog post is related to all of those topics and more.

The decision Ning made, and will enforce tomorrow, will affect people from all walks of life, many who simply built a wonderful little, or not-so-little, online community.

The Ning Violation is, in fact, a violation of a commitment, an agreement between Ning and all of those little online communities and their members. It will affect many people and it has been handled badly. It is not about the money.

It is about an implicit contract, a social contract if you will, between Ning and its users.

That is why I call it The Ning Violation!

The Ning Violation

I awoke this morning, went through my usual routine, and then went to my email box. I always put off email until I have accomplished my two major tasks of the day, so as not to be distracted. Email is the bane of almost every marketer’s existence. You can’t work effectively if you focus too much time and attention on email, it will suck precious minutes and hours out of your day; and, conversely, you can’t do business without it, email is a crucial component in today’s interconnected, online world.

So, on to my email inbox and what do I find?

An email announcing The Ning Violation, a take it or leave it upgrade policy. I have Ning pages and have set them up for clients, so naturally I was concerned. Several things popped into my head almost at once, the first was a twinge of anger at the prospect of my work being held hostage; and, right along with that thought was the thought that, if this was rubbing me the wrong way, it had to be affecting others the same way.

Mountain out of a mole hill?

Tempest in a teapot?

Perhaps!

After all, at first glance I can upgrade for as little as $2.95 per month or $19.95/year.

Peanuts!

But then, I looked at what I get for “peanuts” and it seems pretty obvious where I am being pointed by the marketing team at Ning.

Next, I reviewed Ning Plus with Advanced Features for $19.95 per month or $199.95/year and it looks a bit better.

Until I realize that Ning has conveniently left out the capability to add new videos or offer music, two of the most popular Ning features. They do allow access to current videos, so they do appear to understand the concept of grandfathering, but it appears to be too little, too late.

Finally, we get to Ning Pro, announced as being Built for Scale. Ning Pro os $49.95 per month or $499.95/year…and I save 17%!

API Access, unavailable at the lower levels is offered as an upgrade at the Pro Level, as are additional Bandwidth and Storage.

Ning offers sponsored networks for Education at the Mini level and Health at the Plus level. Both sponsorship networks require an application process and a sponsorshiop acknowledgement must be placed on the header of your Ning Mini or Ning Plus page.

If it is in one of those two categories and if it qualifies.

Several questions popped into my mind:

1. Why was this notice the first notice? I am very good about catching this sort of thing and even go through my spam folder before deleting it to make sure nothing important gets trapped. But I will concede this point, perhaps I was missed or missed the announcement.
2. Why am I getting this notice one day before the cut off?
3. How are my clients going to react to an increase in fees, however small, for something they perceived as free?
4. Is this ethical?
5. Is this good business?

The Ning Violation

This is clearly not a lot of money and we all have more important things to occupy our time.

So, why do I feel violated?

This is the heart of it:

This is bad business, plain and simple. The cost is irrelevant, the threat is, take it or leave it. It is unethical. Interestingly, if you have a Ning page and you do not upgrade to the appropriate level? They are holding your content. You can’t see it, it isn’t available to anyone through their network, but it is there and you can download it to your computer.

But then what?

We all know who the content belongs to. It belongs to the creator of the page and the members. That content is as much a part of their lives as anything they have built online and now they either accept Ning’s terms or they have no vehicle for expression.

Yes, I am sure Ning has that tied up in the Terms of Service (TOS). I haven’t checked as of this writing but it is irrelevant at this point because they have lost a user, several actually.

Ning obviously knows what a Grandfather clause is.

Why didn’t they use it in some way, shape or form?

Let’s look at a possible scenario:

A community develops a soccer program and tells everyone in town they can play and the community will pick up the bill, play on the community fields. etc. Coaches can create the best team possible from the available pool of children who want to play. To build the program and the individual teams, everyone will invest their time to get the program going and make the individual teams successful.

Now comes The Soccer Violation

After a couple of years the program has been built and the teams are flourishing.

Now, the community steps in and says:

“Things are going to change beginning tomorrow. Beginning tomorrow, you can play in the pasture over by the barn for $3 a month per child or you can play in the baseball diamond outfield for $20 a child or you can continue to play on the nice, new community soccer fields for $50 a child. Up to you, take it or leave it…the new program starts tomorrow.”

There will be a lot of kids out of soccer in that community…today!

I am willing to bet, there will be a lot less Ning pages in the online community tomorrow and a lot of ill-will for a long time to come.

Here are the questions that started rattling around in my brain as soon as I read the email and as I dug into this deeper:

If Ning can do it, who will be next?

If Ning can pull off The Ning Violation, why not Facebook or YouTube or Twitter?

Perhaps it is coming, in one way or another. Bit by bit and drip by drip, things will change, they always do. But many have asked this question, faced this scenario head on, and balked.

Why did Ning push the envelop?

Are they in trouble financially?

Hard to say!

But the question I come back to time and again is:

The Ning Violation: Is it Ethical?

This is not what I had intended to write about for this blog today…but I think the question deserved the space.

I hope you agree!

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read this post/rant.

Please, feel free to comment and don’t forget to subscribe…we have an awesome ebook coming out on September 7, 2010 and it is only available to subscribers…free.

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004
Skype: johnzajaros1

PS, Check out our newest blog at Ultimate Inbound Marketing. It is still young but will grow fast…I hope you will grow with us!

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• 

Consulting or Tutoring, Inbound Marketing or Chemistry:

Success or Failure is Phone Call Away

I tutor kids struggling with ADD and ADHD. I also work with students who are struggling with complex issues in their lives. I have been a tutor, teacher, professor, and coach my entire life, at least part-time, so I am not about to give it up now.

I have also been in sales and marketing most of my adult life, aside from a short stint in academia.

Whether in business for myself or working as an advertising and marketing consultant for a “big dumb company,” as Dan Kennedy would call them, I have learned a great deal about how to build businesses from the ground up. Over the course of the last 35 years or so I have become a black belt of sorts, understanding not only the nuts and bolts of business but how to get clients through the door; and, converting those prospects into buyers and, ultimately, into life long clients and friends.

Incredibly, many of the same behaviors I witness in parents exploring options for their failing sons and daughters, I witness in prospective inbound marketing clients, the business owners I talk to about their business’ advertising and marketing strategies or lack thereof, usually the latter.

Whether tutoring or marketing assistance, the similarities are striking!

Please understand, I don’t see it all the time, but enough to notice similarities in behavior, a definite pattern!

The pattern goes something like this:

• Tutoring: I often get the call for help when the child is drowning. Rarely do I get a call at the beginning of the year, instead I get the call when the student is going down for the fourth and final time, often failing across the board, every class. I have been consulting and working with kids long enough that I can pull a student back from the brink, usually. However, had I been called sooner? Well, my job would have been a lot easier and there would have been a lot less stress all the way around.
• Consulting: The same is true for many of the businesses contacting me for assistance. Unfortunately, I get the call when the business has a month to live and little hope that last ditch marketing CPR is going to do the trick. I am brutally honest with these business owners and, while I have taken on a few clients in this condition, I make sure they go into our relationship with their eyes wide open.

The kids and the businesses who do the best, have the best overall results, are the ones I get when they first start having issues. Recognizing and admitting that there are issues and they must be addressed, in other words being proactive, invariably leads to a good result.

Those parents and business people who are of a more reactive mindset?  Well, it hasn’t been as easy and it is always more expensive…often at a time when the added expense is a significant factor.

It’s like the Framm Oil Filter ad campaign spokesman put it, a marketing masterpiece in its own right:

“You can pay me now…or you can pay me later!”

Happily, in each and every instance thus far I have been able to save both, the businesses from going under with a solid inbound marketing strategy and the kids with a comprehensive tutoring program; and, both experiences have been pretty amazing!

But in every instance the difficulties were totally unnecessary, had the decision makers been proactive.

Ultimately, being proactive in your affairs is necessary for long term success. Interestingly, procrastination, inertia, pride/ego, and sales resistance are the major impediments in both situations.

I often hear:

“We have always done it this way before, why should I consider doing anything different now?”

A closed mind is a recipe for disaster and is the reason why most businesses fail and why so many children fall through the cracks.

For an interesting book dealing with my people do some of the things they do, read Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior.

Sway is a must read! What an eye-opener when it comes to understanding human behavior.

If you are marketing to the affluent?

A must read is The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Rich.

Both of these books will open your eyes and add a new and often surprising perspective.

For those of you in business, those of you considering your overall marketing strategy?

Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin is a must read.

For those of you who have children who are struggling?

A must is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It is an excellent read for anyone with children!

Please feel free to comment or contact me any time.

John

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526 (home office)
440-821-7018 (cell)
Skype: johnzajaros1
excellencepaidforward@gmail.com

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• 

I just thought I would share a moment with you. The sun was setting, it is mid-October and the clouds were beautiful, purple and billowing. I live not too far from the spot where the video I shot (below) was taken and I love walking there.

After overcoming a life-threatening and life-altering illness, one that put me in the hospital for months from December of 2004 until April/May of 2008, it is as if my eyes are seeing things for the first time, that I am once again experiencing life.

I am beginning to see the possibilities in life again, the things that make my heart beat a bit faster, and the things that don’t necessarily mean success as much as they simply make life a bit more fun. I have experienced all the trappings of success, have been known as a “success” for much of my life. To have had it all vanish, all the trappings, while fighting for my life was disconcerting but I always knew, if I could just get through to the other side, I would have it all again.

Interestingly, having made it through catastrophic illness, having beat back the most dreaded of diseases and lived to start again, my perspective has been forever altered. The “things” I once thought important are no longer so and the “trappings” of success are now viewed for what they are, impermanent and easily replaceable. The things of value, the things that really matter, friends, family, my faith in people, my faith in Something Greater have all been restored, renewed, or significantly strengthened.

Success no longer has the same meaning…but success still has the same definition!

Figure that one out for yourself….

By definition, success is a progression, an improvement in your overall quality of life on daily basis. Tony Robbins talks about CANI! CANI! is “consistent and never ending improvement.” Tony Robbins talks about the improvement in the quality of your life on a daily basis, incrementally, continually, and consistently. Early Nightingale and Napoleon Hill talk about progression toward a worthwhile goal or ideal. Interestingly, every great thinker has equated success with progress, a progression, a journey that includes never ending improvement.

If that is the definition of success…I am a success!

Every day of my life has become a success, a mural of sorts, and I thought I would share just a moment of it…me and my little dog, TuffGuy…my Higher Power is the painter, my life the canvas!

The video below will be up around the web, on my personal blog, The John Zajaros Blog, and elsewhere. It’s just a moment, a glimpse, and Martin Scorsese has nothing to worry about.

I challenge you to find your own personal place or places, your space if you will, that spot or those spots you can retreat to, that inspire you, not only your entrepreneurial spirit, if you have that sort of wish for your life, but personally and spiritually. Because those personal places are the best places to take a step back and renew, recharge, and refresh the Spirit before facing the ups and the downs life invariably throws at us daily…on our journey, our progression, our never ending quest!

This has just been a moment of personal reflection:

The Quest Revealed!

As stated, the most significant and meaningful trappings of success are no longer the same for me. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t get excited about a new Hunter sailboat, almost purchased a while back, or a comfortable houseboat for Connie and I to retire on. TuffGuy, Bart, kids, and whomever else wants to come along with us, as well! Well, maybe? But the landscape has changed, the Master Gardener has done a real job on me, I no longer yield the same produce and life on the other side of H#ll is indeed Heaven!

We are tested throughout our lives but one thing I know with absolute certainty…Tony Robbins is right! CANI! is the real “secret” to success. Only through constant, consistent, and never ending improvement, never quitting no matter what the odds, will you prevail.

Not only will you prevail, life will be amazing!

But you must demonstrate:

Faith– in yourself, your loved ones, your friends, your Higher Power (in what ever form you see it) and, most importantly, your Self!
Hope– above all, hope! Without hope, when things are their blackest, you will falter! You must have HOPE!
Determination– there were times when the only thing that kept me going was determination, that refusal to quit regardless of what everyone and everything was saying!
Persistence– just a bit different from determination, a one-two punch of sorts. Determination is the mindset, persistence is the implementation!
Goals– It is not enough to want something, you must have concrete goals and a plan of action. Without goals you are truly a ship without a rudder, blowing this way and that!
Burning Desire– this may also be called “The One Thing!” It is not enough to have goals, it isn’t even enough to have a plan of action, you must want it, whatever “it” is, with all your heart! You must want it in the pit of your stomach, it must burn within you like nothing else…it must make your soul ache!

IF you are able to define, clearly and concisely, what your “One Thing” is, write it out, burn it into the very fabric of your being, and then have complete faith in the reality that it will be yours, put the plan into action and improve upon it in some way each and every day, constantly and consistently, you will prevail!

In the words of one of the greatest statesmen to ever walk the Earth, “Never, Never, Never, Never Quit!” And you will prevail!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526 (home/business)
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@johnzajaros.com

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• 

I was in the shower and it hit me! One of those eureka moments when everything becomes crystal clear, at least until you get out of the bathroom and it leaves your brain forever. You know what I mean, kind of like what a dream does, you struggle to remember, but it’s gone forever. First of all, I guess I should explain what the heck I am talking about! You see, I seem to get some of my best ideas in the shower. I did some research with a physiologist during my stint in academia and he said it had to do with the fact that as we put our head under the nozzle and allow the water to pulsate and massage our head, the brain is being stimulated by the repetitive pulses of the shower massage. The stimulation leads to increased brain activity, the result being creative thoughts and ideas. I was impressed and thought about it for a minute or two.

After a couple of minutes back on the task we were working on, surveying 3100 skeletons in the Hamann-Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, a question came to mind. Interestingly, my question then is just what you are thinking right now if you are with me on this. What about before shower massages? What happened then? He laughed and told me not to be so old-fashioned. Me? Old fashioned? Well, we both laughed and then he continued. My research partner noted that the topic had been researched thoroughly, the evidence conclusive. Who was I to argue with him, it sounded reasonable to me. He went on to talk about impulses and axons and dendrites and after about 5 minutes I knew two things: one, I was glad I was a bone guy and not a physiologist; and two, I knew he knew a whole lot more about it than I did!

Anyway, back to my revelation. I was actually thinking about a Clickbank marketing campaign I started a couple of days back, considering the target market and how to reach them. It was then that it hit me like a ton of bricks, my eureka moment! I know, but I really do a lot of my best thinking in the shower and lately all I can think about is marketing, it’s a sickness! So, all at once, the two came together in a moment of total clarity. It’s about perceptions and assumptions!

That’s right that was the moment, the revelation, and the epiphany! The thought was so intense and so amazingly clear, I got out and wrote it down else it disappear much as the dreams mentioned above vanish in a moment. Let me explain. As marketers we see the world a certain way, we make certain assumptions based on our perceptions, our observations and, if we are really good at what we do, our testing. We study, quantify, test, optimize, study, and then test again. Once we assume that we have everything pretty well knocked, a clear understanding of whatever it is we are attempting to monetize, we launch our product, service, campaign or whatever. Interestingly, we cannot test the one variable that makes everything that preceded the launch so much window dressing, the testing just this side of pseudo-science. We cannot test how people will react given their individual perceptions and assumptions.

Interestingly, the perception or perceptions, and the assumption or assumptions based on those perceptions, is precisely where the challenge rests. We base our marketing, in fact every decision we make in our lives, on the schema we bring with us through life, our own life-mind-map, if you will. The conundrum, the puzzle, the real and difficult challenge is to shed our pre-conceived notions, our perceptions and assumptions, in order to make an educated guess about what a prospective customer will do or won’t do based on their perceptions and assumptions.

So what does this mean for Internet marketers, in fact for all marketers? Well, let’s take the Clickbank example for a moment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Internet marketers, regardless of the niche, advice people to stay away from Clickbank. The Reasoning? I’ve been told, and heard others complain, that you will market your product and when people find out it’s a Clickbank product, they will go and sign up for their own account, if they don’t have one already, and take the sale and the commission for themselves. You do the marketing, someone else gets the sale! All I can say to that is that the person making that assumption, based on a certain perception, is not thinking like a prospective customer, they are thinking like an Internet marketer. Perceptions and assumptions!

Significantly, most people do not view the world as we do; and, they don’t have any desire to. The fact is most people have no idea who or what Clickbank is until they see a form with it written across the top as they are making the decision to purchase an item. Think about your first experiences online. Did you have any idea what you were doing, much less what Clickbank or Clickbooth or Commission Junction does or is? Much less know how they work? The average consumer types in a few words, ones they think might get them a bit closer to solving a problem or answering a question, and they wait for a page to crystallize in front of their eyes. They don’t know anything about sponsored links or PPC or SEO or anything else, all they know is there’s a page with some possible answers and those answers may help them solve their problem. That’s it! However, we as Internet marketers assign to our prospective clients and customers all of our own, very personal, skewed, slanted, and even biased perceptions and assumptions. Significantly, most customers just want the quickest, easiest fix for their particular issue, question or problem; and, hopefully at the lowest price possible.

So that was it, the eureka moment, the moment of clarity, the ah-ha moment. I knew then, at that precise moment, that there was nothing to worry about because I am not marketing to Internet marketers, at least not for the campaigns I am currently invested in. I am marketing to John Doe or Jane Smith and all they want is for the pain to go away or their dog to behave or to lose 15 pounds or for their little Janie or Johnny to make the soccer team or any one of a hundred or a thousand different things to happen or get fixed or have answered that have absolutely nothing to do with Internet marketing or Clickbank…they just want their problem fixed!

That was it, that was the moment and it was an amazing one for me personally. You see, I’ve become so immersed in the culture of marketing, and particularly Internet marketing, I forgot what it is like to sit in front of a monitor, not having a clue how to turn the darn thing on, much less try to get the answer I needed. Going back to that mindset was an amazing moment, because it helped me to reshape my thinking and to understand once again what it is like to be on the other side of the transaction; and, on the other side of the learning curve. Our perceptions, based on certain assumptions, must be shed if we are to be effective marketers. It is about more than empathy, it is about being able to step outside yourself and view a situation from both perspectives, without making any assumptions! It is something like what we call an emic and etic perspective in anthropology, the ability to view a situation from different perspectives in order to achieve a clearer understanding of the individual, the society in which he or she resides, and the culture they are a part of, and how that all comes together to shape an individual’s schema or life-mind-map. If you can read that map, you are going to be successful beyond belief. If you are a lousy navigator, I suggest you learn how to read a map. Or? Take up glass blowing, it may be more profitable!

Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-539-7412
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com
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We all wonder what it takes to be the best, to be on top of the Internet marketing heap! The secrets to being an online business sensation are perplexing to many, elusive to most, and rewarding beyond measure to the chosen few!

So, what does it take to be successful? Well, first we need to define success, and that’s for another day, but for now we need to discuss that all-important trait you must have or cultivate if you are ever to succeed at internet marketing. The trait is actually a constellation of abilities that I will reveal more completely in the video below. For even more input, email, call or Skype me anytime.

Ultimately, you need one thing more than any other single component or trait. If you have the ability to build this one component, you will succeed when most around you fail. This is not a pep talk and this is not an easy business. If you want someone to give you a pep talk, talk to one one of the many “gurus” out there so adept at talking you out of your money, not once but many times!

One time offers, upsells, and all the rest!

If you want the truth, from someone who has built businesses that have succeeded, and others that have not…and learned from both kinds of experiences, then enter and learn! I don’t have all of the answers but I have enough of them to ensure your success, and mine! By helping you, I can help myself, and we can both benefit! I am not building an online empire and I am not selling someone else’s product unless I use it myself…and believe in it! I am looking for a small group to MASTERMIND with! Are you looking to go it alone or are you smart enough to realize that two or more minds when focused together create another, greater mind, one we can share and use collectively to build a successful online business.

On or way to The Internet Marketing Quest Revealed!

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter! We are also having the drawing on April 30, 2009 at noon!

John Zajaros
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@thequestrevealed.com

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