Are you comfortable questioning your knowledge?

[Andyhenry]

Hi Warriors,

All the time people come here giving advice to others about what 'works' or what is 'the best way' to do certain things.

Quite often the advice I see people giving is the complete opposite of what my own testing indicates.

Whenever I think I know something about IM I test it - and quite often I find that the facts don't agree with what I thought -especially if I based what I thought on what someone else said.

So before you just take peoples 'advice' at face value- or offer it to others - just think about whether you really KNOW it to be true NOW.

[KarlWarren]

Hi Andy, long time no speak - I hope things are good with you.

I think we're all guilty, at times, of taking things at face value - especially when the advice comes from someone we respect... it is always good to question advice - instead of assuming something works, test to find out WHY it works - then, if it doesn't you can work out WHY it didn't work. That's how we gain experience.

Why, is one of my favourite questions.

** EDIT **

It's also good to know that you don't know everything. The trick is, to know what you don't know - and know how to find out.

[Frank Donovan]

Mark, Andy's just advising people not to take everything they read at face value. IMO, we all need to be continually revising our own thinking and methods and testing things for ourselves to see how they impact on our own businesses.

There's very little that's set in stone.


Hi Karl

Originally Posted by KarlWarren

Why, is one of my favourite questions.

It's a great question. But in IM, I think an even better one is "Why not?"



Frank

[Andyhenry]

Hi Mark,

All I'm saying is - that before you listen to someone telling you not to build links quickly, use Yahoo Answers, email on a Thursday etc... etc.... - Consider that the person telling you to doesn't necessarily understand the difference between what they've heard is/was true and what actually works right now.

The same for offering advice - consider why you think it and whether it's valid or just speculation or repeated advice before stating things like they're some sort of marketing fact.

Even things which were correct often go out of date or become stale, so even good advice doesn't necessarily last - and there's a LOT of old advice being thrown around.

[JayXtreme]

I really do like the point you are making here, Andy.

For me, personally, it is vitally important that I prove to myself that something works. I'm the kind of person that will act on something... simply to give me an answer. I don't really care if something works or doesn't, I just want a definitive answer.

Many of the things I hear people stating as fact in this forum, simply don't work. I have tested things in my business for my own benefit and found this to be true.

That doesn't mean that somebody else should take my advice, I'm just telling how I make decisions on stuff. I test it myself.

The only way to know if something is a killer strategy for YOU in YOUR business, is to test it and get your own results.

The only numbers that really mater when working your own business, are your own numbers, data and statistics. Everybody else's numbers are merely food for thought.

Peace

Jay

p.s. Even if I know something to be correct and true... I'm happy for it to go stale and no longer work, it gives me a chance to find another angle, testing my own skillz

[Bill Farnham]

Hi Andy,

I agree with your premise.

The classic example in my mind as it relates to my experience was watching a video a few years ago by the late Gary Halbert where he stated that folks will call a local number over a 1-800 number by a wide margin.

So to test it out I accentuated our local number instead of the 1-800 on our website and found in our case the exact opposite to be true. Our prospects and customers preferred the 1-800 number over calling the local number.

This could be due to several factors, including toll charges, I don't have the definitive facts for the reasons, but it proved to me that advice even by guys like Gary, who I have a tremendous respect for, needs to be tested for validity in your niche or business. There truly isn't a one size fits all when it comes to 'knowledge'.

Especially the "Now" part...

KJ

[KarlWarren]

Originally Posted by Frank Donovan

Hi Karl

It's a great question. But in IM, I think an even better one is "Why not?"

Frank

I'm always saying the same thing

[hotftuna]

Hello Andy, I agree with you.

I have been doing SEO since 1998. Until recently, I have stayed away for forums and even reading anything about Internet Marketing online.

My formula was I would test my own ideas. If they worked, I did more of it. If not, I moved on. I did not want to do what others were doing.

One huge benefit was all of the time saved that others spent on forums and other media.

While there was much to be said for my approach, I was not keeping up with new ideas and developments in the industry. Now I try and keep a balance. I can get ideas from others w/o following their advice blindly.

[lakshaybehl]

Its not about what works... Every fing thing works.

Its about what works for me.

Well said, Andy. Well said.

-Lakshay

[BIG Mike]

Lakshay took the words right out of my mouth

I really do not understand why anyone would read something (ebook, forum, etc.) and simply accept it as the gospel truth.

It's always smart to listen to differing opions, but in the end, you've got to weigh what you're hearing in the context of what you're doing. Not in what others may be doing.

And that means one thing - testing the most viable ideas to find out whether or not they're a good fit for your own business activities.

All things being equal, not every method or technique is going to work flawlessly accross the board for any business. Sure, there are some basic principles that will always apply, but only the business owner is going to be able to determine what really works or not.