E-business and You: The Business of Making Money Online

Apr 29
2010
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Several services, podcasts and consultants are dedicated to teaching people how to make money on the net.  Here’s the bottom line: They are taking your money and making money on the net by getting you to pay for their services, podcasts and consulting assistance.  That sounds harsh, and is not meant to be. It’s just a reality check. These e-gurus are making an honest dollar and charging for their expertise. However, in most cases, what they are serving up is how they are making money, not how you can.  It’s no different than when Carlton Sheets sold how to make money in real estate on Info-mercials.

The point is there is no rule to how to make money on the Internet. It’s just like any other business. If you have the right product, service, niche, marketing, and put in the sweat equity, you, too, can foster a business online just as you could offline.  The advantage is that your start-up costs are lower online.  The disadvantage is that it’s hard to cut through the clutter, smoke and mirrors.

Basically, monetizing content (as it’s called) is no different than the older term of e-commerce, except that it refers more to the selling of knowledge rather than products. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., in his book “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround,” gives IBM credit for inventing the term e-business, which he prefers over e-commerce.

Deep in the book Gerstner writes: “I think for a lot of people, the ‘e’ in e-business came to stand for ‘easy’.  Easy money. Easy success. Easy life.  When you strip it doewn to bare metal, e-business is just business. And real business is serious work.”

That’s why today’s e-trepreneurs will honestly admit that they make $100 from Google Ads, if lucky, a bit more from affiliate marketing if aggressive, and the real money is made by the stars who have made real names for themselves ultimately through old-fashioned books and speaking engagements arising out of blogs, and e-communications.

If you’re not looking to promote yourself, but your business, the Internet is a great marketing tool – a key communication channel for letting people know about your product, service or offering. It never was a get rich quick vehicle.  Few marketing channels are, but each does help build the brand – even if the brand is you.

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Written by Rhona in: Books, Marketing, Social Media | Tags: , , , , , , ,

Marketing Definitions: The Three A Marketing

Apr 18
2010
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Recently I was asked my definition of marketing. I hate the question, even though it’s a very legitimate thing to ask a marketing person.  There are so many definitions and for a field that specializes in making things memorable and compelling, none of the definitions are memorable or compelling.

Finally, I’ve condensed my personal definition into something easier for me to remember.  Marketing, I said, is “Honing the brand and expanding its reach.”  That’s it.  I have longer definitions that deal with company vision, but they get too convoluted.

Bottom line – it’s about honing the brand and expanding reach. Sure, in expanding reach, there should be a way to monetize the brand – if that’s your goal. If you’re running for president, the goal is to motivate votes.  Either way, the goal is to create audience, action, or affection (loyalty).

OK, so the real definition of marketing is that which “hones the brand and expands its reach to create audience, action or affection.”  The Three A’s!

The problem is the definition keeps getting longer and less memorable. I recently completed the audio book “Made to Stick.” I had read it once before, but it’s a great book to revisit for marketing, editorial, educational and advertising types. The book discusses how to make ideas stick from campaign slogans to mathematical formulas.

The key, according to the authors, Chip and Dan Heath, is storytelling. None of us, it turns out, remembers data or love facts. We love and remember stories. But sometimes definitions are required. When your CEO or CFO asks “Why is marketing important,” you need to be able to answer – quickly and succinctly.  Our inability as a discipline to do just that has been just one reason for the demise of many of much needed marketing groups.

In effectively telling company stories, we marketing types frequently fail in one key area. We neglect to tell our own stories – how marketing has functioned as part of solutions. It’s the classic shoemaker’s children going without shoes.  Going forward, as marketing people, one of our key goals must be promoting our own proof of performance. Our performance as well as our very existence on the team is key to a company’s long-term survival.

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Written by Rhona in: Books, General Business, Marketing, Marketing Basics A to Z | Tags: , , , , , , ,