Anyone who has been in the online marketing scene for more than 10 minutes, would quickly realize that there is no end to the amount of infoproducts (training, courses, ebooks, etc.) that one can buy. If you had a dollar for every sales page that promised you quick profits for 10 minutes of work a day, you’d have enough money to buy over Twitter from Elon Musk. What’s strange is that despite the profusion of information in this scene, the majority of beginners to online marketing fail miserably. They end up dejected, jaded, and poorer, after having frittered away thousands of dollars on rubbish products. Which brings us to one CRUCIAL pointÖ.
Not all information products are made equal
Unfortunately, because of the low barriers to entry and questionable ethics displayed by degenerate marketers, low quality products are the norm. The scene is awash with get-rich-quick infoproducts that are nothing more than untested theory. The vendors may offer money back guarantees but many of them mysteriously disappear when you ask for a refund. Navigating through this minefield of dodgy infoproducts can be a challenge for even the most intrepid mystery shopper – and yes, you are a mystery shopper because you never know what digital pile of rubbish you’ll have until after purchase.
First key point to note: Just because a product is vendible and has a persuasive sales page doesn’t necessarily mean it’s aboveboard or proven to work. With enough hype and lies, even the trashiest product can sell thousands of copies online.
Choose a marketing course that delivers
Generally, the best marketing courses are comprehensive and pricey. You get what you pay for. Common examples would be Matt Diggity’s Affiliate Lab or the niche site course by Authority Hacker. When choosing an online course to purchase, you want the vendor to walk the talk. This is imperative. The guy selling you a course on graphic design must be able to design attractive images. The marketer teaching you Kindle publishing must be making thousands of dollars a month publishing on the platform. They need to put their money where their mouth is.
Someone wants to sell you a video marketing course?
Ask them to show you proof that their channel has thousands of subscribers and they’re receiving sizeable checks from YouTube. Anyone can do some scant research and produce a course. But very few can show you real-world results.
If they can, you’ll be much safer buying their training. You may also wish to check customer reviews and even ask around in marketing Facebook groups what people think of the course you’re about to buy. Everyone loves giving their opinions online. Second key point to note: You can profit from online marketing courses you buy ONLY if the course is legitimate, proven to work and detailed enough for you to follow. Once you get that right, follow the tips below.
Assess the business model
Most of the reputable online marketing courses you purchase will give you an overview of the business model.
For example, if you’re building a niche site, you’ll need to learn:
Website building
How to spot a niche
Keyword research
Content creation
SEO
Linking and outreach
These are just some of the skills you’ll need to master if you wish to succeed with this business model.
Similarly, if you wish to go with dropshipping, you’ll need to know how to spot a winning product, how to build a Shopify store, how to run paid ads, how to design ad creatives, fulfil orders and so on. No matter what business model you choose – there WILL be skills to learn. You’ll have to pick up each skill as you go through the course.
This will not only take time but also effort and patience as you surf the learning curve. It’ll be common to fail repeatedlyÖ but you’ll fail your way to success. Once you’re aware of how much work is involved and how many skills you need to master, you’ll understand what’s in store for you. There are no quick profits here. Get a lay of the land before you begin.
Take a modular approach
Many beginners make a huge mistake trying to watch or consume a course in its entirety before taking action. This not only delays their progress but tends to overwhelm them too. Usually, they quit on the course halfway and never get started. You don’t need to see the entire staircase before taking the first step. You MUST learn by doing. DoÖ doÖ do. Then do some more. Since you can’t do it all at once, you’ll need do it in stages. That’s the best way to go about it.
For example, when the course instructor shows you how to conduct keyword research, you’ll want to immediately get started on it after watching the video. That may mean signing up for SEMrush and fiddling around with the tool’s interface as you figure it all out. Sometimes, it may take you a few days or even longer to truly get the hang of keyword research.
That’s why you need to focus on the specific task at hand. There’s no need to worry about backlinking and other details just yet.
Mastering keyword research is what matters at the moment. That’s your current module. Once you can do keyword research proficiently, now you’re ready to go back to the course and start on the next moduleÖ and repeat the process. You’ll learn by doingÖ and will save time in the process. By watching and doing in stages, you’ll understand the process better and be building a business instead of merely learning one.
Immerse yourself in the process
Here’s a hard truth – no matter how expensive or comprehensive a course is, it’ll never have ALL the information you’ll need to become an expert on the topic. You’ll have enough information to build a businessÖ but to truly take it to the next level, immersion is a vital component in your learning journey.
So what is immersion? Simple. It means learning all you can about each part of your business.If we follow the keyword research example from above, while you’re figuring out how to use the keyword research tool, you may also wish to read the product’s documentation. You’ll also want to look on YouTube for tutorials on using the tool.
While the course may have tutorials for you to follow, when you’re watching material from different sources, it’s inevitable to pick up tips and tricks from different places. The repetition will also sear the concepts and practices in your mind.
Once again, take the modular approach. Go narrow, but go deep. Learn each component to the best of your ability and test it all out. The more you learn and DO, the better you’ll understand the process and the nuances involved. Like they say, “The difference between good and great is attention to detail.” A word of caution here: Immersing yourself while you learn and do is awesome, but don’t immerse yourself into any one module for too long. That’s a form of paralysis too. Once you’re good at one task, move on to the next module and master that too.
Journal your process and progress
No. This is NOT one of those “Hello Diary!” moments.
Journaling your process will mean writing down:
What you’ve learned
What you’re doing
What your results are
What new tips and tricks are working
Any ideas you may want to test out
And so on. In time to come, this will serve as a very handy reference. Try and compartmentalize your journal so that your documenting is done in ‘sections.’ For example, one section may be about finding niches – and you’ll document all you can about it. Other sections may be about keyword research, building backlinks and so on. Use a notebook with tabs to make it easier for you. In future, if you learned new tricks about any topic, you can add them in the relevant sections. This will prevent your journal from being messy and unstructured.
Don’t start too many projects at once
It’s common to want to launch 3 sites at once or write and publish 3 books at one go. This can be done if you leverage outsourcing, but it is NOT recommended. The goal of speeding up your progress by replicating processes across different projects at the same time is counterproductive. When you’re in the learning stage, you will make mistakes. As you get more experienced, you’ll discover better ways of doing things. If you were to replicate your efforts simultaneously, you’d need to correct the same errors multiple times.
For example, if you are building 3 websites at the same time, halfway through the process, you may discover that using a different WordPress theme makes your site load faster. Now you’ll need to change 3 sites. This can be a hassle. So, work on your first project and make it your sole project. Once you’re done, you can start the next few projects simultaneously because you’re armed with know-how and experience.
To go faster in the future, you’ll need to go slower in the present.
Spend time in the trenches
It’s almost impossible to build an online business in 1 month by just working on it for 20 minutes a day. You need to do more. A lot more. Dedicate as much time as you can to your business. Watch the training repeatedly and keep working on your skills until they’re second nature to you.
Consistency is key here. If you only can spare 30 minutes a day, that’s fine – but spend that 30 minutes DAILYÖ and do NOT expect fast results. Someone who spends 2 hours of focused efforts on their business will progress far more rapidly than someone who can only afford half an hour a day. But we can only cut our suit according to the cloth we have. If your life and work commitments only allow you 30 minutes a day, just use those 30 minutes wisely.
Overcome ALL hurdles
It’s inevitable to overcome hurdles when building your business. Maybe you can’t figure out how to install Google analytics or you have no idea how to integrate your Shopify store with Oberlo. Such tech issues are the norm. Nothing to panic about.
Do NOT quit and try to start building a new website or store without solving the problem. It will rear its ugly head again! Repeatedly. No matter how many sites or stores you start. Starting from scratch doesn’t mean the outcome will be different or the problem can be avoided.
You’ll need to overcome it to get past it and move your business forward. If you really can’t do it on your own, find a freelancer on Fiverr and pay them to do the job for you. Sometimes, it’s easier and faster to leverage the expertise of another person who’s a professional at the task you’re struggling with. Never quit because something in your business is tripping you up. That’s akin to hitting the snooze button on your business. Every online business has it’s sticking points.
The difficult truth is that building and running an online business is like getting kicked in the stomach repeatedlyÖ and it will happen even when your business is successful. The kicking doesn’t stop. Your pain threshold just goes up. So, be ready to get kicked and proceed forward despite the discomfort.
Iterate constantly
As you get better at what you do, keep improving your processes, performance and output. You will fail multiple times. But if you keep changing things and trying repeatedly, you will succeed in time to come.
A final note:
Your success in business is not dependent on any one course. It only depends on you. If a course is legitimate and others are having success with it, so can you. It’s all about staying on track and keeping your nose on the grindstone until you succeed.
Too many beginners blame the courses and expect a blueprint for success. In reality, you write your own blueprint. You can have the steps laid out for you in the course, but only with effort and time will you discover a blueprint that works for you. That’s how you profit from every online marketing courses you buy.
“Overnight success stories take a long time.” – Steve Jobs