Got this courageous if depressing blog comment from a guy named Olivier:
Perry: The more i listen to you, the more i feel im screwed and have no chance of ever making it and maintaining my place in a market.
And I always felt i didnt have super value(expertise) to share in any market.
So as a result, should i just give up on the idea of making it online? If im no expert in any market, i dont have a competitive advantage no?
These may seem like basic questions, but believe it or not theyre coming from someone who has tried to make it online for 6 years, and has been through tons of the big guru programs (good and bad)
Oliver
Oliver,
This is a GREAT question. So many layers behind it, too. I’m going to make this question the subject of my next Renaissance Club newsletter which will get mailed out in about 2 weeks.
Short answer:
If you don’t really know what you’re talking about, then God forbid that you should ever become an info marketer. The last thing planet earth needs is another self-proclaimed expert delivering candy-coated advice who is following people who are following people who are lost and doesn’t actually know jack ****.
The reason Google appears to hate so many info marketers is that 75% of them are lame-ass posers. And everybody knows it.
If you don’t have super value to share, then let yourself off the hook. <<Big sigh of relief>> Don’t try. Find someone who does and share THEIR value.
The world has way too many people offering mediocre products and services which have no real justification for their existence. Why clutter the marketplace with more noise and junk?
There are millions of unbelievably good products, inventions, widgets, ideas, books, courses; and bona fide experts who are too modest, too shy, or too uneducated about marketing, etc. to do a good job for themselves. Find one of the good guys and help them.
Lots more could be said about this, much more useful advice on what to actually go out and do. I’ll go deeper in the January Perry Marshall Marketing Letter which goes out snail-mail.
And remember this: In the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king. Many markets are populated by unsophisticated, uneducated marketers. A lot of “turn key” programs and systems that are popular among marketers are aimed at incredibly competitive markets populated by ninjas.
Most markets are a lot easier than that. Pick a battle you can win.
Share This Post
About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
24 Comments on “6 Years Slugging it Out & Supremely Frustrated”
Info marketing is sold as being the easiest thing in the planet and it isn’t. It requires deep knowledge of what you are about to teach and your very own investigations on the subject.
Si Senor.
Hey,
I am gonna share my onest opinion about info marketing:
It SUCKS!
The reason why is because I have a friend who is selling softwares online, and he gets a software made for a couple hundred dollars, like some website making software or whatever…
And then he sells it to a LOTTA people and makes millions of dollars in some cases selling ONE software.
And if you check out the forbs 400 and see the TOP richest people in the world, you will realize that most of the richest poeple today are selling SOFTWARE!
So that is why info marketing sucks, but it is good for people who have expertise in a particular area…
Claude,
My brother and I have been long time Planet Perry folks and Round Table members as well.
The right coach (to me) is one who has been where you want to go or helped others where you want to go. They will produce and ROI however you will still have to take action (I am not saying you aren’t).
There are lots of tasks that my brother and I have tried, spent time on, spent $$$ on that didn’t work. We feel we learn from each experience.
3 years ago my brother and I were going to small offices talking about Facebook and no one cared. Facebook was 150 million people but no one wanted to listen.
This last November we spoke on stage with Perry about FB in front of 400+. Did we know that was going to happen? We had no clue. We spent time, money, energy, and checked in with those in the know like Perry to make sure we were on the right path.
I must say, I feel about the same way as Oliver. He says he’s been slugging it out for six years. I’m a two and a half to three years in and I’m still searching for my true passion. I think it’s getting more and more dificult nowadays because not only do need to find something you’re passionate about, but you also need to learn a lot of techniques. It is an education for a career, and must be treated as such. Something that cannot be accomplished overnight. Add to that, the fact that most of us are in Dilbert cubes all day long, in unrelated professions and have little time, ceativity and energy leftover at the end of a long work day to learn this new career. So getting all this fantastic technical information (such as the techniques dished out during mastermind calls) is sometimes overwhelming and even non-applicable for the lonely newbie who’s been burned in the past and has a limited timeframe and budget.
It would be so nice to have the ‘newbie program’ with a specific, tangible, step by step guide to learn the ropes. Many of us have learned many techniques from outside sources and this may be the reason why our attemps often fail. I know how to do keyword research, and how to build a blog but am I leaving something out? How can I be sure this idea is even worth investing time in? There’s always that feeling of ‘what if all this work is for not, again’? That being said, all this education will one day be useful, once the proverbial foundation has been built, and if one does not give up.
I think this is where a coach or mentor can be a fantastic asset- to point you in the right direction, give you the best tools to work with and to keep your focus aimed toward building your business. But then again, what’s the guarantee that having a coach will bring you ROI?
Good program for newbies with expertise: http://www.payperclicksearchmarketing.com/r/NakedTruth.php?NQ==y
Glenn Livingston is the real deal.
This seems so obvious, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard another online guru say anything like this.
Rather, the prevailing idea is that with the new technique they are selling, you will somehow make money. It is easy to focus on how cool the technique is and lose sight of the fact that you need good content.
I always recommend people to just go after their hobbies and passions. Glad someone out there thinks the same way!
I also think the government needs to get more involved, last time I checked a guarantee meant something would work 100% of the time!
Every now and then I get an email promoting some program for selling high-dollar “coaching” services. The testimonials are “great”. Somebody sells some company on paying $1.15 MILLION for the “testimonial” writer’s services. I wonder who would spend that kind of money for somebody I’ve never heard of.
The pitch doesn’t say boo about how to make yourself qualified to get such fees, and I doubt the always trustworthy Perry Marshall would charge that kind of money unless there was a ton of value in the coaching. That’s a lot of cash to extract from one client.
What burns me is the notion of selling high dollar just to get the high dollars. It makes a lot more sense to make yourself worth the high dollars so the client is smiling when you’re handed a check for that amount.
Or are these testimonials fabricated?
Hey Nick,
Can you point me to any resources that elaborate specifically on the 80/20 cubed approach?
Matt
Matt,
I finally released DVD’s from my 8020 seminar, which I believe Nick might have attended.
http://www.perrymarshall.com/adwords/gladiator/
Perry’s the only guy I’ve learned this stuff from in implementable detail for marketeres, so I do highly recommend the 80/20 course Perry linked to above.
The 80/20 books by Richard Koch by contrast are a good read for someone totally new to the concept, but honestly not something likely to get implemented.
I’ll add my experience to this discussion later tonight to give my comments context. But I tend to be long winded, so out of courtesy, I’ll let the conversation evolve before slogging it with a long response.
Love your answer, Peri!
Most people who actually have good stuff to sell tend to be RESERVED. They have spent their time in contemplation, experimentation and creation mode and that’s what they do best. Promotion does not come easy, but with the Internet it’s easier than ever to be truthful, to be real, and to get your products in front of your market without having to sell.
Perry,
What you’ve said is absolutely spot on.
I’ve been saying for ages that people should NOT get into the information business unless they are a real expert on the subject.
It’s the only way you can even sustain your business not to mention ethically promote it.
But it seems that every guru out there tells you to create an info product just like that.
Finally someone who talks some sense.
Good one Perry.
Everyone’s entitled to an opinion but yours is wrong. You do not need to be an expert.
Think like a publisher. You can find experts on just about any topic under the sun. Leverage their knowledge to build your products.
Some of you make this entirely too hard. Stop fighting yourself.
I always come back to 80/20 Cubed. The power of doing 3 things exceptionally well. 100*.20*.20*.20 = 0.008. In otherwords, giving your business three wacks of 80/20 gets you in the top 1% – exactly where you need to be.
If you don’t have any wacks at this point, needing three probably seems depressing. Doesn’t change anything though. You still need them.
For me the power has come in building three wacks into every endeavor.
Marketing: Have a great ad, a great offer, and a great guarantee.
Revenue: Have a great loss leader, a great backend, and a great downsell.
Product: Address “all three things” your client needs to do to find the happiness and self-definition your product/service provides. They are there, believe me.
How can I be the top 1% in the 20% of the buisiness that matters? That’s the question. For me, it’s very motivating that all I have to do is do three major things right in each area and its virtually guaranteed that we will be in that top 1%.
Nick
Right on Perry.
One thing to keep in mind, that stymied me for a while, is that you do not need to be the absolute expert in a field. You do need to know what you are talking about, but if you are targeting novices the field and you have a few solid years of info under your belt you are just fine. And of course you can get more advanced expert info in many ways: interviewing experts, other products with affiliate programs, etc.
Love your stuff Perry but I would like to hear more stuff geared towards retailing. It seems (seems is italicized) like Planet Perry leans towards helping info marketers. I DO plan to sell my expertise …after I acquire it! Retail was my quickest way to internet profitability. The way numbers are looking (started April 2011) I’m confident that retail will subsidize my other internet adventures.
It all applies to retail as well. I’ve harped on this the past 3 Bobsled Runs and beat the retail drum other times when I hear someone say something does not apply to retail. A lot of what Perry teaches is the concept behind the actions. You just apply those concepts to your business.
It’s like taking a math class and expecting to just do something with math. You apply the math to real problems you need to solve. Same thing with marketing lessons. You take the lessons and apply them to your scenario.
It really doesn’t matter if you are doing retail or affiliate marketing or info marketing. You have the same basis. A business. Every business needs to move something in order to stay in business.
What I do with each lesson is ask myself “How does that apply to my business?” I have yet to find something that does not apply in e-commerce retail.
You begin with the foundations from the Ultimate Guide. You split-test. You refine ad groups and campaigns. You mine your search query reports. You make a profit. You reinvest in yourself and your business.
I find the bigger concern is determining which things to implement. Thank goodness for 80/20 and the Tactical Triangle!
I’m always happy to discuss internet retail marketing concerns in the Mastermind Forum as well.
Lame products come from people who can’t teach, who can’t get results for other people.
If your reader simply learned how to educate others, he could sell information written in others’ books
“Lame products come from people who can’t teach, who can’t get results for other people.”
This very well explains all the big industry. You know them all.
Small guys need to start somewhere, free enterprise, capitalism, free speech etc gives anyone the right to put out whatever they want and do until oneday a big gorilla comes by and tells them otherwise.
The sword is double sided and will strike both ways.
The law of the jungle, first come, first serve, the mighty with power rule, atleast on this earth.
There really is no fairness in the world of marketing, just about everyone is desperate or the ones on top can’t stop being control freaks! Selfish, ignorant, soulless and outright arrogant. I’m referring to big guys, big industries who wield power and can swing the sword of capitalist lust.
It’s all about lust isn’t it. There’s really no passion in a destructive world. When destructive technology comes into play all passion for nuturing life ends and the road to decay is set in motion.
There really is no answer unless we create equality for all.
Peace to all!
Excellent answer Peri! There are too many people trying to be millionaire experts, especially in Internet marketing. I personally know people who have or want to set up consulting, coaching, and info marketing products for twitter, Facebook, and Internet SEO who, when you speak with them privately, admit that they literally are recycling other people’s information and have no idea personally what they are talking about. Nor do they have any “success stories” to share – because they have never helped anyone do what they claim to be able to do! Not even themselves! There are plenty of ways to make money on the Internet, but when you do, it should be with honesty and by delivering real value.
Shot him down in flames. I hope he doesn’t jump off one of those “bridges” he bought that only traverse half the gorge.
My question remains: I there a program that will help a newbie, with expertise in their niche, succeed?
He thanked me for my answer, in the original thread. See, look: http://www.perrymarshall.com/20326/10-predictions-2012/#comment-48978
Good program for newbies with expertise: http://www.payperclicksearchmarketing.com/r/NakedTruth.php?NQ==y