Following New Fads In IM
About a year and a half ago I contacted a decently successful internet marketer with a proposal for a new product I was launching. I don’t want to give away the niche, so we’ll call it _______.
Their answer was, “What the hell is _______? I’ve never heard of it!” I replied, surely you’ve heard of _______? It’s been out for months and is a wildly successful technique used by many marketers.
In a sentence, their answer was that they don’t pay attention new fads or trends and stick to the tried and true online marketing techniques.
Now, I’ve never considered myself a person that jumps on the new best thing the second it comes out. I don’t own an iPhone, I don’t have an active MySpace page or a bazillion corny videos on YouTube. I don’t rush to the store to wait in line for days to pick up a brand spankin’ new Play Station or xBox.
Why?
Because every new fad you jump on requires time, effort, money and a whole new learning curve. Although learning is a big key to success in IM, excessive learning, AKA information overload, is not.
In my coaching program I have people ask all the time, ”Maybe I should try this, it’s all the rage” or “Maybe I should do that, everyone else is doing it.”
I usually ask them if they’ve done it before, have any experience with it or know how it works. Their answer is a collective and resounding sounding “no!” So why try it when you have a less than equal chance of failing vs. succeeding? Why not stick with something that’s practically guaranteed to work?
Don’t get me wrong - a lot of money can be made chasing fads and new trends, but a lot of money and time can also be lost chasing them.
Let me explain. Look at how wildly successful YouTube was and is. In a little of a year, it sold for a Billion (with a capital B) dollars. You might think that things like this happen all the time because you’re always hearing about it on the news.
There’s a reason it’s on the news – because it’s extremely rare and not something that happens very often. It’s an extremely extreme example which makes it newsworthy.
To continue using YouTube as an example, there are videos on YouTube that get millions of views and make the producer a lot of money or give them a lot or recognition, but do you know how many videos there are that only get 100 or 200 views, total? Millions.
Same thing goes for people that chase fads. Some will be successful beyond their wildest dreams, but for every person who makes it, there will be hundreds, millions or more who fail.
If you can afford (with time and money) to chase after the best, newest thing, more power to you. But if you’re just starting out and are looking to make some money in your spare time, use the methods that are guaranteed to work:
Pick a niche. Find a problem. Create a product / service that solves it. Let people know about it. Make money.
Just something to think about before you jump on the band wagon for the next hottest thing.
Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of my book: