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billbenson
07-10-2010, 01:25 AM
I have a friend who is retired but running out of money faster than planned. He has access to some products that could make him enough money to not have negative cash flow. He wants to sell them on the web.

I would like to get him some web marketing 101 resources. Step one is to get him an understanding of onsite marketing IMO. Stuff like unique content, important tags, writing a page that sells, and certainly ways to rank well in G. Just the basics though.

Anybody have any recommendations? Again, just the basics until he gets a feel for that. He has no web experience.

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2010, 11:45 AM
Whew! Tall order. Most of the blogs and resources I know are at the advanced stage...meaning that you have to play catch up if you know absolutely NOTHING.
My first suggestion would be for him to join a forum like this one, if for nothing else but to observe and read... to get different opinions and experiences from a wide range of people on different subjects and to get help a little quicker than scouring the web for answers.

My second suggestion would be for him to spend some time on You Tube searching for recent videos on Internet Marketing. There are a ton of them from reputable companies like American Express..actually the videos from their Open Forum of last year had a lot of keynote speakers that spoke to beginners and intermediate online businesses, And they are broken up into easily digestible snippets of a few minutes each.

It's much easier to watch a video, and listen .

I would also suggest that he spend a little time on blogs like Mashable. It's not beginners stuff or tutorials, but it will give him some perspective of the business, and and the internet.

As far as a particular resource for a complete noob that will cover everything. I'm actually at a loss but I'm sure some others aren't. VG probably has a bunch of stuff bookmarked.
I actually have no idea where to even start to help someone from the very beginning.

billbenson
07-10-2010, 06:15 PM
Ya, I think VG had some stuff. I might have him buy a dummies book. I have WP sitting on a few domains I'm not using, so I can update one of those to the current WP and let him play with that. I took a look at you tube. I'm sure there is stuff buried there, but the first few I clicked on were useless. I haven't searched yet, but do you know of a WP for beginners tutorial you like?

Harold Mansfield
07-10-2010, 06:33 PM
If you just want the "How To" stuff.
There are Tutorials on Wordpress.tv (http://www.wordpress.tv)

Dan Furman
07-12-2010, 06:02 PM
He has no web experience.

Get some. Really, that's step 1. A flikr account to upload some pics. A free blog. Maybe even a personal site somewhere. Get some experience having something that's "yours" online.

billbenson
07-12-2010, 07:10 PM
I pretty much agree with you Dan. I have always felt that small business owners should go through the exercise of creating a site and ranking it well on google. Pick a real niche subject so it's not that hard. You will learn most of the pitfalls you can fall into at the same time.

At the same time, I think web marketing is the most important. The people that I have seen make the most money on the web, are really good at marketing their products on their site. They farm the other parts of the site development out for the most part.

And there is no reason both can't be learned concurrently.

Harold Mansfield
07-12-2010, 07:24 PM
I don't know that many Small Business Owners will take the time to learn how to rank a site. Build one maybe, but even that is a stretch. However, they should know SOMETHING. At least have some experience with something online, facebook, twitter, a free blog, article submissions...something.

billbenson
07-13-2010, 02:55 PM
I don't know that many Small Business Owners will take the time to learn how to rank a site. Build one maybe, but even that is a stretch. However, they should know SOMETHING. At least have some experience with something online, facebook, twitter, a free blog, article submissions...something.

I think the same is true for many corporate managers and executives. That's why there can still be such great opportunities on the web.

Harold Mansfield
07-13-2010, 07:58 PM
I think the same is true for many corporate managers and executives. That's why there can still be such great opportunities on the web.

No question about it. If everyone rolled up their sleeves and learned how to do everything online for themselves...I'm out of business. Thank goodness they don't want to or don't have the time.
My best clients are ones that provide services to other businesses. They get it. They want it and they NEVER haggle over price. Same concept as when I tended bar. You always get better tips from people in the business.

Lyrafire
07-20-2010, 09:27 AM
I like ProBlogger by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett. Also, if you're going to recommend a Dummies book (nothing wrong with that), Web Marketing All-In-One for Dummies contains five or six different books on various aspects of internet marketing. There's one other that's not included: Local Online Advertising for Dummies.

That's really nice of you to let him use one of your blogs as a sandbox; he'll probably learn a lot more by doing, rather than reading or viewing only (college educator, speaking here). I would also caution him away from believing anyone who says making a lot of money (or even making a living) can happen quickly. As you know, there are plenty of people who would love to help him by taking a bite out of his bank account. As a newbie, he's particularly vulnerable.

Finally, my best wishes to him. I hope he does well--at least well enough to build a bigger cushion and supplement his living allowance.

vangogh
07-20-2010, 12:11 PM
Sorry I missed this thread Bill. I agree with everything that's been said already too. Definitely have him spend more time using the web. That has to be step 1. You're never going to be able to connect with potential customers online unless you've been a customer yourself.

As far as sites are concerned I was actually going to recommend the two Lyrafire just suggested, especially ProBlogger. Darren Rowse is a great source and doesn't get too technical with anything. Chris Garret doesn't seem to be writing as much as he used to, but still a good source. I'd also suggest CopyBlogger and grokdotcom.com.

For books I personally like those of Seth Godin. The guys at grokdotcom have also written some good ones.

The best thing to do is introduce your friend to a feed reader. Show him how to use it and how to add new feeds and then set him up with a few. From there let him build out as he sees fit. I don't think there's any one right approach to making money online. We're all different and we all have different skills and ways of learning. What works for me, may not work for you and what works for you may not work for me.

Also why not have him join a forum like this one. It'll give him more experience online in general and be a resource for getting questions asked. In the end learning how to build a business online comes down to spending the time learning how and implementing what you've learned.

Harold Mansfield
07-20-2010, 01:23 PM
He has to get his hands dirty. All of the reading in the world won't help him if he doesn't understand some of the most basic principles of how things are done. If this is something he plans on doing all by himself, he needs to get his whole body dirty and soon. The faster he dives in, the better. Learning from scratch to making your first sale, to success is a long winding road with a lot of conflicting street signs.

I reiterate, a forum should be his first and most frequent stop, especially for the first year or so.

KristineS
07-20-2010, 01:49 PM
Definitely agree that having something he can work with online is a must. Even if it's just a vanity site, simply so he can play with concepts and try things out.

Also, he needs to find someone that he can run concepts by that is trustworthy and who will tell him which ones are crap and which ones could work. There's a lot of junk out there and it is helpful to have someone who is knowledgeable and trustworthy to help sort through everything.

pennylane
09-07-2010, 11:30 AM
I learned a lot by reading Crush it! and Inbound Marketing. Still learning.....

SEOHelp
09-23-2010, 12:25 PM
I would suggest that he starts with Google. Search the Google site - there is tons of information. Most of it will tell you want to do - but will tell you what not to do.

rdcclu
09-30-2010, 04:03 PM
My view is that your friend is wanting to learn more things than initially necessary. It probably will become confusing with all the information (some of it conflicting) overload.

Therefore, here's what I would do right out of the box. He can get fancy later.

1. Pay for someone to design a lead capture page or buy one online that's already done.
2. Create some kind of free report in your market to trade for their contact information (he only needs name and email).
3. Get an autoresponder service like AWeber. Write a series of autoresponder messages to go out once or twice a week. Make them 2/3 useful information with no selling and 1/3 of them marketing his product or a related one.
4. Focus only on learning how to drive traffic to this lead capture page and build a list.

That gets him in the game. He will discover what else he needs to learn just as a by-product of getting started and moving forward with something basic and simple.

billbenson
09-30-2010, 10:27 PM
Bob, welcome to the forum BTW. My friend didn't want to put in the work and joined a MLM selling .ws domains. Didn't really surprise me as he always has been looking for the easy way out.

In any case, to further your approach, he is involved in setting up a distribution center for Jamaican food products as well. That is something he knows how to do as he has managed regional businesses in the Caribbean and is from Jamaica mon. So he has access to products that aren't that easily available in the US. They could be wholesale or retail products.

I can see the benefit of your approach of building a list for wholesale sales. But, to do this online for retail, what is your approach for using your list to sell to the consumer. An opt in list for emails, for example, seems very ineffective as opposed to a shopping cart solution which is the direction I was suggesting in the first place. A well done shopping cart can do your list building, but direct email marketing seems like a hard way to go at a consumer and even at a wholesale or b2b level.

So, what is your approach?

rdcclu
10-13-2010, 04:25 PM
I would like to get him some web marketing 101 resources. Just the basics though. Anybody have any recommendations?

Have him go look at Ken McCarthy's Smart Beginner Course. The basics haven't changed.

rdcclu
10-13-2010, 04:38 PM
I can see the benefit of your approach of building a list for wholesale sales. But, to do this online for retail, what is your approach for using your list to sell to the consumer. An opt in list for emails, for example, seems very ineffective as opposed to a shopping cart solution which is the direction I was suggesting in the first place. A well done shopping cart can do your list building, but direct email marketing seems like a hard way to go at a consumer and even at a wholesale or b2b level.

So, what is your approach?

Well, personally, I would do both.

Every business needs to build a list. B2B or B2C, it doesn't matter.

However, it's not "direct email marketing" in the sense of buying a list and blasting out spam. The opt-in process trades their contact information for something they deem valuable. From there, the follow up autoresponder series provides further education about the market/products and builds up trust and credibility over time. Marketing messages are interspersed, but those on the list are not hammered.

Relying on folks coming to a "store" or "shopping cart" can miss a lot of potential customers. Most will visit, not buy and never return.

SEOHelp
11-01-2010, 02:06 PM
My Recommendation would be when setting up your site don't forget about your search engine marketing. This is something that you should be thinking about from the very beginning. This way your site will be designed to drive quality traffic to your business - those who are looking to buy and not just looking. If you want people to find your business online - you really have to prefect your online marketing efforts as soon as possible. Good Luck!

vangogh
11-02-2010, 12:10 PM
My Recommendation would be when setting up your site don't forget about your search engine marketing.

Yep. Definitely not something you should just tack on at the end. Ideally you'd have some kind of general marketing plan (including search marketing) from the outset. That plan should even be leading your site design and development.


The opt-in process trades their contact information for something they deem valuable.

Good point. And that trade also shows more interest in you and your business than a person who happens across your site or who's contact info you bought from somewhere else. The person who gives you an email address in exchange for a free white paper or ebook is showing an interest and giving you permission to contact them again. Not all are going to buy something after receiving your emails, but more will than had you emailed random people.

SEOHelp
11-10-2010, 01:03 PM
My advise would be that you have to start from day one with your marketing efforts. That way, it will be ingrained in every decision that you make as you go forward. If you want people to find your business online and off - you really have to prefect your online and offline marketing efforts as soon as possible. Because most people today - when seeking out products, services or information - turn to the web. And, if your business is not right up there at the top of the search listing - they will never find your business - regardless of how good your products and information is.

billbenson
11-10-2010, 11:10 PM
I have a friend who is retired but running out of money faster than planned. He has access to some products that could make him enough money to not have negative cash flow. He wants to sell them on the web.

I would like to get him some web marketing 101 resources. Step one is to get him an understanding of onsite marketing IMO. Stuff like unique content, important tags, writing a page that sells, and certainly ways to rank well in G. Just the basics though.

Anybody have any recommendations? Again, just the basics until he gets a feel for that. He has no web experience.

I appreciate everyones responses, but this has drifted off of the original topic which is quoted above.

vangogh
11-11-2010, 11:43 AM
What us get off topic? Couldn't be. We never do that. :)

I'm not sure you can find a single marketing 101 resource or even a few links. There's a ton of information out there and it's more a matter of jumping in and starting to learn than finding a few specific resources.

If you visit SEO by the Sea (http://www.seobythesea.com/) and look toward the bottom of the right column there's a long list of SEO and marketing blogs. Bill maintains a great list and has a great blog himself, though maybe not a 101 type blog. I would start there and just click a few links and start reading until you find a few you like and then subscribe to each. SEOmoz has a whole bunch of free and paid guides to seo (http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo). Start with the one at the top, the Beginner's guide. It's free. There are other free and paid guides readily available and if your friend starts reading a few blogs on a regular basis the blogs will lead him to all of them.

As for more general marketing I like Seth Godin's books. I've also read books from the people at Grokdotcom (http://www.grokdotcom.com/) and the Heath Brothers (http://heathbrothers.com/). You can also have your friend sit in one of the bookstore chains and look through the marketing section for an hour and pick a couple of books he likes. After awhile most of the advice you get is going to be similar so the reading and learning is often more about picking the sources you like the best. Much of the sources are going to tell you the same basic things.

I learned a lot about marketing on the web through them. I'd highly recommend subscribing to CopyBlogger (http://www.copyblogger.com/) for both marketing and copywriting advice.