Here is an email that I exchanged with Joe earlier today ( and yesterday ) regarding his questions on getting started with marketing online.

What is most notable ( and most frusturating )about this process is you find people are so far indoctrinated with ideas and terminology and little half truths, glimmers and glimpses into windows that worked for a moment – but more often that not – don’t – or won’t for you.

Regardless of where you may be on the success ladder – most of us are in a fairly constant condition of information ( and opportunity ) overload. So many people telling us what to do – which way to turn, which path to pursue – that so many of us end up doing nothing.

It’s like the old adage about being in a movie theater with more than two exits – in the event of a fire – we’d all burn to death. Given too many options, we just freeze. ( no pun intended..;-) Sure – some would go straight South, but most of us – given so many outlets for escape – would just stop and think for one hot minute too long.

There are two places I’ve seen this – first hand, up close – and in such a way as to be so detrimental to personal progress that it almost always ends in disillusionment.

One is right here – online – in the everpresent pursuit of fame and fortune and million dollar digital downloads. Most people will fail to make any significant money online. Not because they aren’t able – but because they are constantly searching for that one elusive piece of magical software, that one coaching club, that one mentor who is going to finally illuminate all of those half lit truths, connect those darting dots, piece it all together in such a simple way that we share this collective “ a-ha “ moment of great wealth and wisdom. But somewhere deep down – where it counts – we all know it ain’t gonna happen.

The other is in the very similar search for enlightenment – meaning – god (head) – kaballah, kundalini, Christ Conciousness, the " Secret", self help or whatever you call yours.   Spend any time with a person who has been hardcore searching for the path to the divine – and you will find someone who has for the most part – tried just about every different road possible to get there – bumping and jumping from one metaphorical, metaphysical dirt road to the next – always looking for the latest and greatest craze that promises the quickest initiation into the the one absolute truth.   ( And no - I'm not talking about the people you see at your local Church on Sunday) I think it’s fair to say – that most who come to some sort of meaningful realization of one sort or another will tell you – you can take any number of paths to find what it is that you are searching for. The key is simply to pick one, and stick with it. Because most never will – never realizing that the magic they are looking for – hoping for – is already there, waiting to be unpacked. But rather than recognizing it, and working to dust it off and try it out for themselves, they seek the answers elsewhere, in other people, other places and other potions.

I have suffered from affilictions of both sorts. I have watched and listened as Gurus of the one variety have shared with me secrets of the soul – and watched and listened as Gurus of the other have offered those of glitter and gold. I have surfed the bardo realms and just about every online marketing forum under the sun – and the realizatons are always the same: Be careful with where you place your faith. Rely on your own instincts and trust your own gut. And pick one path. Stick to it. There are many roads that lead to the same place –and your success wont’ punish you for picking one and ignoring the others. It’s good to know a lot of things – and be well versed in much – but to be a master of one – this is to be truly rich.

The refuge vow – for a Buddhist – is the choice, the commitment, to pursue a path of enlightenment by eliminating other options and obstacles that may distract he or she from accomplishing this goal. It says –" I consciously choose this path even though I know there are other choices available – and that awareness empowers me to get there. This is my fire exit. "

I am going to dedicate a lot of time to ensure those who come for the most basic of online marketing advice – can find it here. Stuff that may seem trivial, or remedial or even obvious, because the one thing that becomes increasingly clear is how much confusing information exits out there that distracts people from actually accomplishing anything significant online.

This stuff ain’t difficult – and I’m certainly not the brightest guy in the room. But for so many, the nuances becoming overwhelming – the jargon foreign ( and foolish ) and the progress becomes lost in the sea of information overload. If I can be a kayak – or even a simple rickety wooden raft for anyone swimming alone – that would be more than worthwhile for me.

My brief exchange with Joe regarding E books ( and some of the common confusion that inspired this post ) below:

Good Morning Ian;

So much to learn it seams, your outline is outstanding I shall work on it and see what happens. There are several fields I think the e-books might work with the least amount of competition. Some one told me once, pick topics that are specific but not necessary in vogue or the flavor of the month. Pick and choose several the advise also mentioned, what are you thoughts?

I was also curious in regards to data mining, targeted email extraction being able to retrieve addresses from those who are hunting, looking if you will on search engines, forums, groups, etc for a particular subject that you may be selling. Not totally unsolicited in my mind but information sent to prospective customers who are looking for that subject any way. It would seam that as long as you are sending the information to someone who is actively looking for it, it would not be intrusive as long as you gave them the option to opt out. I was told this is a method to increase your activity on sales pages thus accomplishing a possible sale and possibly getting it up the search engines ladder as well.

Thank you again, valuable information.

Regards, Joe

From: ian [mailto:ian@ianhollanderpublishing.com]
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 9:24 AM
To: Joe
Subject: Re: Are you an Internet Marketing *Newbie*?

Hi there Joe -

A few of those concepts are a bit mis-matched so to speak…:-)

You want to collect names - but you you do this through opt in forms which you set up on your webpages - which allow people to * subscribe * or Opt-in to receive your messages on a given topic. There are services that handle this for you - ( I use Aweber ) which manage the names, ensure compliance with CAN - SPAM laws - and handle the sending of sequential messages which most definetly increases sales conversions. ( Simple relationship building - you sign up for my list - I send you a series of messages - you will be more likely to buy my stuff )

However - this has nothing to do with search engine rankings at all.

Also - you can't email anybody anything that they dont' sign up for - ie - if someone is hunting for information on boats - and they arrive at your site - there is no * email extraction/data extraction * software that will automagically give you access to their private information ( email address or otherwise ) and even if there were - sending this type of message to this type of " shopper" is called SPAM - which is the quickest way to kill your business, and reputation..:-)

Offer good stuff - offer good reasons to sign up for your list - follow up to subscribers - and you will do well. But - don't ever email people directly who dont' request it through forums or otherwise - people will respond very negatively to that sort of approach.

Again - data mining is the same thing - you research competition ( in the clickbank example I gave you in the first email ) - you research keywords ( using popular tools like Wordtracker ) and you build pages and offers around things people are searching for - and then you monetize the sites and the visitors through a broad array of offers customized around what they are interested in. You can get all kinds of good data on just about every market you are looking to enter - but I'll tell you this without any equivocation - all of the fancy terminology aside ( data mining/email extraction and otherwise..:-) If you are just getting started online - you need to create simple strategies that are direct and effective - and model what other people are doign well - if you want to sell ebooks - you can spend three months creating an ebook on a topic that you think is going to sell - and find out quickly - that it didn't - eventually you will discover that you wasted time and money and move on to some other income opportuntiy offline or otherwise.

90% of people who come online to make real money will fail. If I were you - and just starting out I would find a few e books that other people were selling - as an affiliate - and sell their product for them ( using clickbank as in my previous example ). You learn this way what works - and more importantly - what does not. Most of the people making huge money online are making a good portion of their money through affiliate marketing channels.

This is where you should start - anyone who truly has experience online and is advising you would tell you the same thing. Get your feet wet selling affiliate products and learn the ropes - move upward and onward from there and you will be successful.

Thanks, and best..:-)

Ian

—– Original Message —–

From: Joe

To: 'ian'

Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 7:11 AM