1. That Content Writing is All About Content
Not true. Content writing is all about writing and it had better make sense. Spelling and grammatical errors reveal someone who is not smart and who is lazy as well. On the Internet, perception is everything; you are what people think you are. Claim to be an expert in writing while spelling grammar “grammer” and you’re letting the public see that you are a fake. Perception is key to Internet marketing. Since you reach people with words and pictures, your words reveal (or betray) who you really are.
It matters not how much you know about your subject; it matters how much you are perceived to know about your subject. Proper grammar and spelling are key to the perception of intelligence.
2. That Anyone Can Learn Internet Marketing
Nope. It takes a great deal of patience, the ability to focus on each task in turn, the stamina to persevere and a powerful bullshit detector. For every good web source of Internet marketing information there are literally thousands of bogus, brain dead sites in business only to take your money and leave you puzzled. After separating the wheat from the chaff, you’ve got to actually put into practice the rare good advice you do find. Throwing up a quick web site and waiting for visitors to descend by the hundreds is an exercise in futility. Marketing is an ongoing learning curve that really never ends.
3. “You Can Earn Over $10,000.00 Per Month.”
This is, frankly and sincerely, a lie. Were it true, everyone in America would be into Internet marketing. If you’re planning to market online to become a millionaire, you are mistaken. The few who make loads of cash on the web often do so by selling ebooks about how to make loads of cash on the web to naive suckers who believe the dream. If you apply yourself with consistency and patience, you can make some money on the Internet but it takes hard work.
4. Anything Goes On The Web
This is a popular misconception. Ask the inventor of the Beer Belt, which held a dozen cans or bottles on a belt around your waist, or the creator of the battery-operated twirling spaghetti fork. As with regular retail stores, the Internet won’t help you market a bad or stupid product. If anything, the worldwide exposure can destroy a product if users decide it’s pointless, too expensive or dangerous. Market something worth marketing.
5. The More The Merrier
Some potential Internet marketers get the bright idea that putting up six web sites touting six different products or services will make six times the money for them. Not true. Branding is the name of the game on the web. If you are perceived as the King of Wooden Spatulas but you also try to be the leader in Construction Portable Toilets you are watering down your brand (you!) and confusing the consumer. There’s a reason Coke is not sold by a company called Coca Cola Soda and Tuxedos. Marketing your brand depends on your knowing what your brand is and being consistent in marketing it.
