Fundamentals Of Internet Marketing: Getting To The Grocery Store And Back

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I have a TERRIBLE sense of direction.

GPS was invented for me.

My first year in college was pretty scary —- every time I would get in my car — I would get lost. It is almost (and I mean almost) comical how bad I am with directions.

But I have learned to cope.  You see, when it comes right down to it — we NEED very little.

We need:  food, water, shelter.

So — every time I move some place new — I learn how to do things like drive to the grocery store and back to my shelter — so that I can get FOOD.

The rest is just extra.  Superfluous. Unnecessary to my survival.

We need the fundamental things in life and in business.

Baby Steps

For me, if you are looking to survive as a tiny business today — you need to “learn to get to the grocery store and back” when marketing on the Internet.

Once you learn where the grocery store is, you will naturally learn where the post office is.  You will then learn where the mall is, then you will stumble upon a good restaurant and learn how to get to these destinations and back.

But concentrate on the grocery store first — it’s where you will get the fundamental things you need to grow your business online.

The Fundamentals of Internet Marketing

The fundamentals of Internet Marketing come along with this core truth about human nature:

We only give attention to and share with others that which we find valuable.

If you debate that statement, you are reading the wrong blog.

This means that if your marketing is not valuable, your market is trying as hard as it can to ignore it.  Conversely, if your marketing is valuable — your market will willingly consume and share it.

Read here for more about how to make your marketing valuable.

Getting to the grocery store and back means learning to efficiently and consistently create valuable content for your target market and broadcast it to them in whatever way they would like to receive it — email, Facebook, Twitter, RSS, etc.

The Importance Of Your Website Platform

It starts with your website platform.  You need to have a website that can be easily updated.  Right now — I am typing this post you are reading in the same way that I would type an email to someone.  If I hit the “Publish” button, it will go LIVE to the Internet.  Once it goes LIVE, it will automatically be pushed out via email, RSS, Twitter, Facebook and Linked In to those people in my market that are “subscribing” to it in those ways.

That’s the kind of platform that will get you to the grocery store and back.

Adding fresh, valuable and consistent content to your website is where you must begin marketing your business online.

Once you can get in the car and drive that route without thinking  — you will naturally begin to learn the techniques of Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Conversion Optimization — but these are not the fundamentals.   They are extra.  Superfluous.  Unnecessary to your survival.

What are your thoughts about this?  What questions do you have about the fundamentals of Internet marketing?  What advice do you have for us about how to market online?