Internet marketing can be a scary proposition, especially for those e-business owners who are not comfortable in face-to-face social situations.
This fear often extends to internet interactions. Then again, it may be that the internet marketer is simply afraid to spend money on advertising that is not guaranteed to work. Perhaps he or she is simply overwhelmed by the learning curve.
Whatever it is you fear, take heart that you are not alone. Here are some of the most common internet marketing fears and ways to overcome trepidation.
Nobody Will Take My Business Seriously
When an entrepreneur first starts a new online business venture, often the greatest fear is that it just won’t work. Maybe you are second-guessing your choice of products or services. Perhaps you feel that people will think your business is just silly (does anyone really want to buy one mismatched shoe?). It could be that you don’t get any significant traffic to your website.
The most important thing is that you believe in yourself, your abilities, and believe that there is a market for your products or services. Surely you’ve done your research, bounced your ideas off family, friends, or mentors, and have selected items that you yourself find functional or entertaining.
Don’t second guess your decisions. Go forward and don’t look back. If standard internet marketing strategies aren’t working, think outside the box to find potential customers. Whatever you do, don’t give up. Your online business needs time to grow, and thrive, but if you don’t believe in it, no one else will either. The good news is that tools and resources will help you to measure your online success as you go. You can pause to tweak something that’s not working, which could lead to a dramatic improvement in sales.
Marketing Bothers People
For the shy business owner, this can be one of the hardest fears to overcome. After all, you may reason, everyone is inundated daily by advertisements, spam email, direct Twitter messages, and Facebook posts asking them to click on a link. Surely if you add your own marketing efforts to the mix, people will just get annoyed.
Once again, you have to believe that what you are doing is worthwhile. You must believe in the integrity of your company, and the products you offer. Remember that whatever you sell, it provides entertainment, makes someone’s life easier, or provides an educational opportunity. Why wouldn’t you want to help someone by selling them your eBook on best accounting practices or by inviting them to sign up for a seminar on how to write an effective sales letter?
Social Media Makes You Squeamish
Some entrepreneurs simply have a difficult time establishing personal relationships. We all know people who have lots of close friends and are the first to be invited to events due to their popularity. They are the life of the party.
Then there are those of us who are uncomfortable in social settings. We attend functions grudgingly and would much rather spend time at home in front of the tube than making personal contact with prospective clients.
When you enter a forum or post on a social media site, try to overcome your inhibitions and build some online relationships. Imagine yourself as that popular party-goer. Engage others by learning of their interests and create posts they will find entertaining and informative. Many people who are wallflowers in person can truly shine by using the gift of writing engaging content on the internet.
Your online business will not be successful without marketing. Anonymity can help you overcome your internet marketing fears in order to achieve online success.
See you at the top of Google!
Sean Rasmussen
SEO Australia Pacific
AussieSEO.com © 2007 - 2010
Excellent post Sean.
I see myself here.
I am naturally a shy person but once I warn up to someone I am fine. I have found by surrounding myself with like minded people you can progress rapidly.
As you may have noticed initially I used a gravatar of a car engine until I was comfortable with the people I was around. Once you get over the fear the confidence will grow
I’m very similar Gee – I tend to be able to express myself better in writing rather than face to face with someone, unless of course I have something in common with that person. When we meet someone face to face, first impressions really do matter, and you only have one chance to get it right. With writing, we can take our time to think about what we want to say and thus have a better chance of making a favourable first impression, which in Internet Marketing, can be the difference between failure and success.
That is one of the beauties of internet marketing Colin, we don’t have to hit that publish button until we are totally happy with what we have written.
Great work Gee, it’s good to see you facing your fears and getting yourself out there. I am sure that once you take that initial first step in facing your fears, it will become easier as you progress.
Hi Sean,
Working offline and trying to establish myself online comes with a full load of new challenges and fears. I enjoy it but still have to find my feet and pick my favourites out of all the possibilities. But over the last few month I have become much more accustomed with lots of the social media and etiquettes and start losing some of my Internet Marketing fears. I am so looking forward to fully establishing my online business – and marketing it as well.
thanks for that post. It comes at the right time
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Definition Of Motivation =-.
Great to hear Renee, keep taking action and the fear will be replaced with success
Hi Sean,
My biggest fear when I first started was that internet marketing was a scam. Initially I didn’t even know that it was called internet marketing. I was searching for things like ‘make money online’.
You can imagine how many scams popped up in the search results. Thankfully, I ended up on your email list and I haven’t looked back. My second greatest fear is social media.
Shyness is not an issue for me but giving away personal information to total strangers is. I still feel really concerned about the security aspect of social media. I think that people give out far too much personal information.
In the real world you can feel that vibe when something is not right about someone. Online, I’m finding it much harder to know who to trust. Still, I’m getting more relaxed with it. Am I the only one with these concerns?
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Learn and Earn – It’s a Marathon Not a Sprint =-.
Definately not Jazz. I feel concerned about giving my details to the world as well especially with identity theft. There are so many online scammers out there who are trying to get your money it is sometimes hard to work out the good from the bad. In real life you can usually pick up the vibe from someone pretty quickly.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Anxiety Separation in Children =-.
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for sharing my concerns. It’s pretty tough to know who to trust online. People can say whatever they want online and because you can’t see them, it’s harder to judge whether or not they’re telling you the truth.
Still, I spend more time watching people over time now to see if there is consistency to what they’re saying.
.-= Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Internet Marketing Success – Make It Happen =-.
Hi Jazz
I have no problem talking and socialising with people of all ages and creeds but I am very private about my personal life so I don’t blab about mine or anyone else’s. I have a right to my private life and so do you.
I have a very strong instinct about people on and off line but I hear what you are saying and I think it is wise to be precautious..
As an exercise, I found a friend I went to school with on facebook who I had not seen for a long time and who lives in another country. I did not connect with her on facebook but found out everythng about her and her family and even her address and a photo of her house within 2 days using facebook, phone directory and google earth, just to prove how easy it is for people to find out whatever they want to about you.
It pays to be discreet.
Hi Jazz,
I agree with you fully – ending up in a scam or giving away too much personal information are some of my big online fears.
As everything happens in the privacy of my home (seemingly) there is the danger of telling too much online, forgetting that the whole world is listening. It definitely pays off to say rather less than more online.
.-= Renee´s last blog ..Personal Fitness Equipment =-.
Coming from a family who see’s work as something that has to be physically backbreaking, it was very hard for me to come to terms that I could actually call sitting at my computor ‘working on my business’. I had to get over the guilt of not being outside busting my gut to make a living. I use to feel I was bothering people when I marketed my products on the internet but as I learn more, I am starting to feel more comfortable with the whole internet marketing process.
.-= Jackie Stenhouse´s last blog ..Anxiety Separation in Children =-.