Avoid Big Internet Marketing Mistakes Alan Smith Author

1 Of 14Avoid the Big Internet Marketing Mistakes2 Of 14Contents• Introduction• Aiming for Perfection• Releasing a “Me Too!” Product• Overselling• Underpricing• Treating Customers as Expendable• Technical Glitches• Not Having an Affiliate Network• Relying on Others to Promote Your Product• Not Having a Funnel in Place• Not Keeping in Touch with Your Customers• Conclusion3 Of 14Introduction: The Top Ten Mistakes Information Marketers MakeInformation marketing is in it’s most basic definition “the process of selling information”. That sounds simple enough, right? But how exactly does that work in an internet-based business?Well, first of all, let’s figure out what kind of information we’re talking about here. Typically, it’s information that serves to educate and, hopefully solve a problem that a potential customer is having.For instance -− Teaching a busy executive how to lose weight.− Showing a single mom how to make more money.− Helping a couple to avoid a divorce.The information is typically delivered electronically (digitally) via eBooks, membership sites, audio and video downloads. It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, several times over, and has generated millionaires such as Dan Kennedy, Yanik Silver, and Frank Kern, to name just a few.Why is information marketing appealing?Entrepreneurs are drawn to the low barriers to entry, high profit margins, hands-off management, and quick time-to-market. An information marketer can dream up a product one day and release it overnight, seeing a return on their investment almost immediately.While it’s easy to become an information marketer, doing it successfully is another matter. Many bright-eyed would-be millionaires dive into the market, hoping to discover the fabled rivers of gold, much like the 49’ers in the Gold Rush of yore.In this short report, I will share several of the common pitfalls that information marketers can fall into, as well as provide tips as to how to become one of the lucky – and hard-working – few who strike it rich.4 Of 14Mistake Number One: Aiming for PerfectionWhen the Wright brothers took their first historic flight on December 17, 1903, they weren’t trying for perfection. They weren’t trying to offer great cocktail service or wireless Internet or 100 channels of TV aboard their flying machine. They just wanted the darned thing to stay up in the air for a few seconds!And a few seconds – twelve, to be exact – was all they got. And they became famous for it.Now imagine if they had been concerned about the extras – no, I don’t mean beverage service or comfy seats. But if they had wanted a crash-free landing, a three-hour (or three-minute!) flight, a stylish rig – they’d probably have never gone out to that sand dune in Kitty Hawk in the first place. They’d still be in the workshop, tinkering with the wheels or wing flaps.What Orville and Wilbur knew – and what information marketers would do well to take note of – is that perfection is overrated. In fact, it doesn’t exist. So waiting until your product is “perfect” before you release it means you have a good chance of either never releasing it at all, or delaying so long that someone else beats you to the punch and scoops your market out from under you.Hesitant to release a product that is less than perfect? Well, Microsoft – and pretty much every other software company – does it all the time! And if “good enough” is good enough for billionaire Bill Gates, it’s good enough for you.Of course, there is a fine balance between releasing something that’s not ready and releasing something that’s valuable but a little rough around the edges. This is where having a handful of beta testers can come in very handy. Send out your product to a group of people for their feedback, and see what they think. Ask them:• What’s missing?• Can you use this product to create more value in your business or life right now?• On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate this product?• If you could change one thing, what would it be?If you get overwhelmingly positive feedback and your ratings are all in the 6-plus range, you’re good to go. If you’re getting comments like, “I couldn’t understand what you meant,” or, “I’m not sure how to use this,” or, “You need to rewrite Chapter Three,”5 Of 14then you’re not quite there. Take another look at what you have, make the requested changes or sugge