Online Marketing - Brains vs Hard Work

Many people have heard the phrase "Work Smarter, Not Harder". We like to think that is easy enough to understand, but to learn how to apply this to your daily goals is not so simple. Well, after reading this article you will be prepared to set new priorities in your schedule and start accomplishing more... with less effort.

You might find this hard to believe but a lot of successful online marketers are actually lazy. Yes, I typed successful and lazy in the same sentence! The reason why they are able to do this is from organizing their day so they only spend time on the most important tasks that create profit - the rest is simply not worth their time.

Whether you are just another lazy marketer, or a really hard working one who is really struggling, all you have to do is focus more on the "brains" behind your marketing to achieve the success you've always wanted.

The first task is to put together a plan. This needs to be a clear written out plan where you set your specific goals with specific times to achieve those goals. You should read these goals daily. The most important part of putting together a plan is creating a daily schedule for yourself. Your daily schedule is a to do list of tasks to complete each day. For example, on Mondays and Wednesdays you may have added different tasks to do than on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These are the minimum tasks that you will complete for the day so that you know that you are working on your business on a daily basis to keep it moving ahead. Keeping organized is incredibly important in your online marketing, I recommend finding tools to help you do this. One free tool that I recommend for this is called EssentialPIM.

Another way to become incredibly more effective online is to automate repetitive tasks. Constant shifting and sorting is not what you should be spending your time on. You want to keep a personal touch in your business, but there are many things that you find yourself doing on a regular basis that may be time consuming... find those things and try to automate them. One example is using an auto responder. An auto responder helps you keep and build a contact list and also will follow-up with your contacts automatically for you.

Now let's take a look at your performance. I've known many people who have literally spent years attempting to market online and have nothing (or hardly nothing) to show for it. How is this possible? This is the result of consistent ongoing marketing that is ineffective. Some marketing just won't bring you results... if it isn't then it is either the source or your marketing technique that are not working. You need to know what is working for you and what is not. No excuses. If you can not tell me measurable results that you expect to receive from each of your individual campaigns then you need to start tracking and getting to know. You know what most people do instead? They think that it is the site or program they are marketing that is the problem, and instead of changing their marketing practices they quit the program they were promoting and jump into the next hot one. This happens over and over again. The truth is that you can make money with absolutely any program if you know how to market. If you don't know how to market then you won't make money in any program. Most new marketers just won't take the time to figure it out, I hope you will. This includes discovering what advertising is not performing for you and to stop doing it! On the other hand it means discovering the advertising that is working for you and to continue doing it on a regular basis or investing even more into that advertising if possible.

In most cases if you want to reach success online you will eventually have to invest money into advertising. Paid advertising or Lifetime Membership with advertising sites are the most effective way to go, but besides investing money you also need to invest your time. Instead of spending your time on the less productive business activities (that have little to show for) you need to spend that time on learning and growing your knowledge. The Internet is completely full of free information such as articles, blogs, reports, an forums. Whatever it is you want to learn it is only a search away on your favorite search engine. In addition, find a mentor you can work with to help you move ahead with guidance and keep you accountable. You must learn something new each week if you plan to really better your online business and growth. Even with my expertise I seek out to learn something new each and every week from people I trust. As it is said... Leaders are Readers. You don't necessarily have to read, but you do need to keep learning.