THE PHIL STAUDT BLOG

by Phil Staudt February 22, 2010

I Am Seeking REAL People Who Are Interested In Internet Marketing

Written by Phil Staudt
February 22, 2010

You don't have to buy anything from me or join any of the marketing programs I am in, but let me know if you are a real person who learned how to play with others on the playground, and want to network with others who are interested in Internet marketing. I am seeking persons with whom I can build good working business-oriented relationships. I am constantly looking for people who I can acknowledge and promote, and learn from, who are more than just one-sided billboards. Please let me know if you are real person, who is interested in sales and marketing. 

One of my twitter accounts has the user name "VegasTaxiDriver". About two weeks after I started the account, I went through all of the direct messages that people sent me on twitter. It was amazing to me how many messages said, "What do you do for a living?". Pay attention people! I am not a taxi driver now, but that is obviously a canned message, just like a lot of the stuff I sort through in my inboxes, or at least the inboxes I actually go through after they go through all my spam filters.

I do not mind giving other people shout-outs and recognition, but if you are looking for another groupie to follow you around like a lost puppy dog, count me out.

SELF PROMOTION AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

What I see all the time on facebook and twitter and myspace and blogs and websites, is that the trend of today for marketers, seems to be to market themselves first, and try to impress everybody with how great they are. This approach did not make people successful before the Internet, and just because you cannot see how turned off people are, because they are looking at you on a computer screen in their home, does not mean that it is any less of a turn-off.

There are too many people who tell me how great they are BECAUSE they are an author, or tell me that I should read their book, or watch or video or join a program, because they are such a great person, instead of promoting what is IN their book, or explaining to me the value of the contents in the book, and telling me why I would like reading this book, or joining a program. Somehow they want me to think that I should read their book, or watch a video, or join a marketing program, because they are smarter than me, or more experienced than me, or just plain better than me. And I guess I am supposed to follow them around every where, and pay them money, so that I can hope to maybe somehow aspire to be almost as great as them. And this is supposed to be marketing?

Look, we are all in this together. It is not how much I know, or how much you know, or who is better. Zig Ziglar says "people do not care how much you know, until they know how much you care". That does not mean that you should put yourself down or not tell people about your accomplishments, but when you present yourself to people, who may end up being prospective customers, or may refer you to somebody else some day, don't try to portray yourself as superman or superwoman, or the saviour of the marketing world. If you take a look around in the world of social networking, and social media marketing, you will find that there are already more than enough people doing that approach. We don't need any more.

"Me, me, me, my, my, mine..."

...is what it looks like to me that so many people are saying on the Internet. It is as if these gurus and coaches and mentors and experts and authors and speakers and marketing pros, are all standing on the same street corner yelling at the top of their lungs, and they think that whoever shouts the loudest or the most wins. Maybe that is just my perception, and maybe these people might be real decent folks, but I will never get far enough to find out, because they turn me off on page one.

Work with me, network with me, respect me, and I will do the same for you. Don't follow me, because I am not going to follow you. I don't want a mentor, or coach, or a guru. There is nothing wrong with being a mentor, coach, or guru, but that is not WHO you are, that is WHAT you are, and I am more interested in what kind of person you are than what title you give yourself. That does not mean I won't read what you write or say, because I might. But what I am really interested in, when it comes to social networking and social media marketing, is being associated with, and connected with, people who I can network with, and work together with, in an environment of mutual respect and reciprocity. That is the way that I believe networking is supposed to be.

I know that it made sense to be a real person and care about others before the Internet, and when it comes to networking, it is still true today. Dale Carnegie said that "people want to have a feeling of importance", and if you can make people feel that you acknowledge them as an important person, with a unique set of circumstances and situations that they have had to overcome in life, then they are a lot more willing to actually pay attention to what you have to say.

When it comes to Internet marketing, and being up on the latest techie stuff, I am a novice. So, if being impressed with how many Rolls Royce's a person owns, or the style of their website, is what you pay attention to, then there is no reason to ever read anything that I write. But I have worked for a lot of companies and have owned a few small businesses, and I know what it is to struggle and scrape by, and I have had ups and downs, just like most people whom I have met. If you are one of the privileged people, who have had everything handed to you, then you probably would have a hard time understanding where I come from. But that is okay, you can be my friend any way.

Just Be Real!

When the Internet was brand new, those who knew how to put up a website and take an order with a credit card, had an easy time making money online. But that was short-lived. When something stinks, it attracts a lot of flies, and that is what happened with Internet sales. The more advanced and determined proprietors, kept finding out new ways to keep making money online. As the years rolled on, there was email, chat, blogging, myspace, facebook, twitter, youtube, iphones, skype, and hundreds of social networking websites along the way. But the way money is made when something is new, is not necessarily the way to build a long term sustainable business that will keep growing over time.

If a new restaurant opens up in a "hot" location, surrounded by new retail stores and big entertainment attractions, there will be an immediate surge of customers who want to try out the "new place". After nine months, then you can find out how good the restaurant is, and how good of a fit it is in that location, by whether or not it can stand the test of time, and whether it gains in popularity, or it goes out of business. Network marketing, especially Internet marketing, is no different. Don't try building a high-rise without laying the foundation.

The Opposite of the Shotgun Approach.

The shotgun approach is fine when it comes to Internet marketing, as long you keep changing and adapting to each and every new twist that major search engines put in place, or if you have a lot of extra money to throw at something. But for small potatoes like me, it is better to build some solid bridges with real people who have character and are building good business relationships with other real people. I am constantly looking for people who are interested in others. Aren't you?

One time I went to work at a small bar as a part time manager. I did not know any of the customers. I put a steno pad next to the cash register. Every time I served a new customer, I wrote down the name of the customer and what they drank. At the beginning of each shift, I studied my list of customers on my steno pad, and I visualized each one of them. As a result, I quickly had good relationships with many customers, made good tips, and went on to be the general manager, and that little dead bar became one of the busiest bars in the State of Oregon.

When it comes to Internet marketing, I have a list of real people I have met during the last year, on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The people are not people who just send me to a generic page with an affiliate tracking code, or send me fake messages that are sent out to everybody they can. The people on my list, who I want to network with, are real people who acknowledge that I am a real person.

The old saying is that "you have to be a friend to have a friend". That is true in social networking. Right now I am building a list of people who are interested in Internet marketing, whether they have extensive experience, or are just getting started. I am surrounding myself with people who are heading down the same path as me. By myself, I know I can get some things done; but by being a part of a network with others who have similar interests and goals, we can all succeed together.

Maybe I am totally wrong, and what I should really be doing is just throwing as much garbage on the Internet as possible, and hope some of it sticks. There seems to me like there are plenty of garbage throwers already. Even if it is the wrong thing to do, I will take a chance on doing some honest-to-goodness networking, any way.

If you are a person who is interesting in Internet marketing, and likes to network with success-oriented entrepreneur-minded people, and would like to network with me, then please join me, and tell me about yourself so we can learn from each other.

Phil Staudt has a facebook fan page, 
and also has a personal facebook page.
Phil Staudt is on myspace.
Phil Staudt is on OrangeLeads.
Phil staudt is on twitter: @philstaudt @philbucks @vegastaxidriver @portaldirectors @vipwealthclub
Phil Staudt has several websites and blogs, including PhilStaudt.org, PhilBucks.com, PortalDirectors.com, 2010WorkAtHome.com, and VegasTaxiDriver.com.

The best way to network with Phil Staudt, is to send me a non-spam comment on this article or send me a private message on orangeleads or facebook.

Success to you!

Written by Phil Staudt
February 22, 2010

by Phil Staudt February 2, 2010