A Beginner's Guide To Digital Marketing - Part 1

Digital marketing doesn't have to be complicated. But you do need a plan before you get started.

Every single day, budding entrepreneurs approach digital marketing without having a road map to success. Then, after months or years of just wandering around online, they give up in frustration and quit. They walk away saying that the internet doesn’t work for them.

You don’t have to end up lost in the online shuffle. Today we'll give you 3 great tips to maximise the success of your digital marketing strategy.

1. Choose a Targeted Market

The biggest mistake when starting a business is starting with a product, and then trying to find people to buy it.

Wise businesses operate from a different concept. They pick a market first, and then they pick a product those people are searching for. In other words, instead of trying to find leads to sell your product to, find targeted leads and then ask them what they want to buy.

Don’t even consider starting a business until you know exactly where you are going to get your leads from. Think targeted customers first. Then, you can come up with a product for those individuals.

Would you rather have 1,000 hits a day at your site of a general audience OR 10 hits a day of people who are desperate and willing to pay any price to buy your products? If you are smart, you will choose the people who are ready to buy!

2. Develop Your Own Product

Next, you need to develop a product or service for this market. Ideally, you would create your own exclusive product. You can pick its price, sell reprint rights to others, set up an affiliate program etc.

Don’t say you can’t do this. Tens of thousands of innovative entrepreneurs have used their own information products to get their careers started. You can too.

Throughout your life, I'm sure there's something you have learned that you can share in a how-to product. Maybe you know someone else who has the right knowledge for a how-to product and you could offer to help them create a product if you both shared the rights to it.

Don’t just jump past this opportunity and say it can’t be done.

You can buy the rights to successful products for as little as £500. If someone else has created a product that you know your targeted market is interested in, offer them a large up-front fee for the rights to it. This way you can get your own product and never have to pay a penny in royalties.

You can also search through magazines your targeted market reads and look for products people are selling. Then, give them a call and ask for the exclusive internet rights to their product for a certain percentage of the profits or an up-front fee.

3. Join An Affiliate Program

If you are just starting out online, this can be a good choice. You do have to keep in mind though that it doesn’t offer quite the profit potential that creating your own product or obtaining rights to one has.

When choosing an affiliate program, make sure that it is something your targeted market cannot be without. They absolutely have to have it. Also pay special attention to the profits you receive from each sale.

If you only get paid 5% commission on sales of £10 books, you only make 50p per customer. It would take 2,000 customers just to produce £1,000 in profits. You cannot make money like this online! Look for higher priced products and higher commission, especially commission in the 25% or higher range.

For more tips, check out our Beginner's Guide To Digital Marketing Part 2.

If this article has inspired you to start your own business, or to step up your digital marketing, get in touch.