The Land of Broken Internet Promises

Lately, we’ve been receiving refugees from the “Land of the Broken Promises.” Often, these refugees are very tailored and well-appointed – with highly visible and successful careers and businesses – but they are refugees nonetheless.

The “Land of Broken Promises” is otherwise known as the land of Internet marketing. The refugees from this land have been looking for more sales, more customers, better margins and ways to cope with the changing world. They’ve been promised all of these things by Internet marketers – but they are fleeing because the promises they’ve purchased are not being delivered.

Technology tends to seduce us. We believe that it must have some magic that we ourselves don’t possess. Because we don’t always understand technology, we have to “believe in it.” And because we worry that we will be left behind, we shell out to buy the CDs, DVDs, teleconferences, Adwords, optimizing schemes, affiliate programs, workshops, boot-camps and consulting memberships. But, too often we’re only purchasing our own dreams – and paying dearly for them.

Internet marketers are selling us a scheme to “get rich quick with a technological switch.” Carnival barkers and flimflammers have used the same approach for ages. What they sell is a quick way to success – a switch we can just flip to make our businesses thrive.

But, beware. The folks who offer quick technological fixes will stress two things:
1) Passivity – “you’ll never have to lift a finger”
2) Exclusivity – “this is all you’ll need”

Certainly, there are legitimate companies that offer ways to help build your business with Internet marketing tools. They will tell you the truth about what search engine optimization, Google Adwords, AdSense and affiliate marketing strategies can do for your business. Responsible companies will let you know how much work you’ll be doing (lots) and that you’d better supplement their solutions with other strategies. We’re not talking about those companies.

But the Internet marketing field is rife with hoodwinkers and carnival barkers selling technological hooflaw. And more and more folks are beginning to figure them out every day.

What if what your business really needed was for you to optimize your brain, not your web site? What if taking the time to improve your “Information literacy” would give you something far more powerful than any of the potions of the online hustlers?

We’d like to welcome any and all refugees from the “Land of Broken Promises.” And, we’ll devote the next 8 or 10 articles specifically to you.

We’ll propose that Information Literacy is far more important to your business than any Internet marketing scheme. We’ll talk about why the explosion of information now available on the Internet can be your most powerful business weapon. We’ll be honest about the amount of work that it will take on your part. And, we’ll ask you to bring along your own savvy, ingenuity, experience and pluck.

And then, we’ll let you make the decision – with no pressure tactics. Optimize your web site? Or, optimize your brain? Why not do both?