The One Word You Need to Become an IM Guru

13 replies
Answer: Read.

I see it over and over again with every succesful guru especially in the internet marketing niche.

Bottom line: You can't be successful at internet marketing if you don't have great content to offer. If you want great content you either need to buy it (if you have lots of cash) or learn the material yourself so you can make your own content.

So this, in my opinion is the dirty little secret most gurus leave out when they're convincing you that YOU can become the next big thing on the internet: reading and learning.

You are buying from those people and on their mailing lists because they have read and learned more than you. When you know more than they do or at least as much people will be dying to be on your lists and buy your products.

Hard work to read tons of books and articles about your niche? You bet. But if you don't love learning about the stuff in your niche you might be in the wrong niche in the first place and you might be in the wrong business altogether. This business is all about information and if you don't love learning and sharing information it'll be an uphill battle for ya'.

My food for thought for the day...
#guru #word
  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Just for a change - I disagree.

    You don't have to have the skills or knowledge at all.

    You just have to know where to get it.

    I've set up membership sites that get expert content on a regular basis - that didn't cost me anything. So I had neither the paid for it or created it myself. It's called working with other people. As long as you can bring value to the table, you can have other people happily to the stuff that most people expect you need to pay for.

    Andy
    Signature

    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Williams
      Originally Posted by Andyhenry View Post

      Just for a change - I disagree.

      You don't have to have the skills or knowledge at all.

      You just have to know where to get it.

      I've set up membership sites that get expert content on a regular basis - that didn't cost me anything. So I had neither the paid for it or created it myself. It's called working with other people. As long as you can bring value to the table, you can have other people happily to the stuff that most people expect you need to pay for.

      Andy
      Yes. But I'm talking about YOU personally becoming a guru in your niche.
      Bringing other people's content in front of your prospects is a good way to make money but it won't make YOU a guru and that's what I'm talking about.

      When YOU become a guru I think you'll always make much more much faster and more easily but this is not to take anything away from your business model which is a good one...just not the topic I was talking about.
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      • Profile picture of the author Angela V. Edwards
        AndyHenry IS a guru. Didn't you know that?

        In all seriousness, Andy is someone I trust here. He has a ton of knowledge and speaks the truth about IM.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Williams
          Originally Posted by Angela V. Edwards View Post

          AndyHenry IS a guru. Didn't you know that?

          In all seriousness, Andy is someone I trust here. He has a ton of knowledge and speaks the truth about IM.
          I'm sure he is. We're just talking about two different things.
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        • Profile picture of the author MisterMunch
          You will get some great knowledge by reading.

          Still I find the best eBooks and the best Gurus out there are the ones who dare to try and test outside of the ebooks and cources. New content is better than rewritten content.

          They might pick up something in an ebook a forum or in a blog and develop their own knowledge based on that.

          Say you work with simple article marketing because you have heard it does work. One day you find one of your articles driving lots of traffic and sales. You analyze the article and try to replicate the success. You fail, you fail, you fail, you hit jackpot. You test again and succeed. You improve on it and make even better results.

          That is good ebook content. That is what makes a real guru. That is what sells ebooks and brings loyal visitors and followers
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          • Profile picture of the author tiger325
            research,research,research . dont buy into the garbage out there!
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      • Profile picture of the author Mo Goulet
        [QUOTE=Mike Williams;21654]Yes. But I'm talking about YOU personally becoming a guru in your niche. QUOTE]

        No matter how much of an expert you become in any field, there are plenty of others who know what you know and more. I personally welcome those who can add to my area of expertise. The top IM'ers out there learned to delegate responsibility and hired others to handle aspects of their business. I do not think Armand Morin would be the success he is today without his organization.
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  • Profile picture of the author vinnylingo
    I'll throw my hat in and disagree as well. I would bet, given your qualifications, there are a slew of gurus waiting to happen right in this very forum. The missing ingredient of your formula is...

    IMPLEMENTATION.

    I would say people like John Reese, Frank Kern, John Carlton, Jeff Walker and others are considered gurus in their respective topics because they have taken more action. They have empirical knowledge of what works and what doesn't. They have ventured far beyond intellectual understanding into tangible experience.

    There's an additional ingredient missing: they are effective teachers. Most people fail horribly at teaching even the smallest things to other people. It's a hard learned skill.

    Oh, and more than a little willingness to stand in the limelight.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
      ANSWER = DO



      Steve
      Signature

      Not promoting right now

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      • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
        Vinny and Stephen are on the money here.

        Having written sales copy and worked with many "gurus" I can tell you that many
        people on this forum have a whole pile more internet marketing knowledge.

        While knowledge is valuable it tends to be overrated.

        You learn by doing.

        You get results by implementing ideas...the faster the better...that way you can dump the ideas that don't work for you and hang on to the ones that do work.

        Think of it this way...

        How many of the great internet marketing strategies that you know are you actually using?

        Kindest regards,
        Andrew Cavanagh
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        • Profile picture of the author Stuart Stirling
          The last 3 posters, I'd have to agree with too.
          But I'd like to add another word:

          Answer: NO FEAR!

          OK, that's 2 words...but I really take off my hat to
          the big guys..they do at it with no fear.

          For many, and they don't even realise, is that they're
          afraid to do something BIG. They're afraid to spend a
          lot of money on thier product or website..

          It still affects me to some degree..but the good point
          is I realize it and am working on it. That and there are
          some self motivation issues mixed in too..but it all ties
          in.

          Stu
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          • Profile picture of the author Leigh Burke
            I think Andy's response is a variation on the theme of "Sell the shovels".

            In the old days of gold rushes around the world, the people who made the most consistent money were the entrepreneurs providing the tools and implements to enable prospectors to dig for gold.

            They all needed shovels, gold pans, sluices, tents, lamps, picks axes, levi jeans, food etc...

            The people selling all these supplies made a fortune. Along with the people selling horses and wagons and transport to the goldfields.

            The bottom line is you can be a conduit for people to make money in any niche, and you will also make money. They might make more money than you, but your income will be consistent and predictable.

            In the case of the gold rushes, sure the occasional prospector found a massive gold nugget and struck it rich. But for the majority it was a sad miserable life with no luck, no income and eventually they had to abandon the dream.

            Make sure whatever niche you get into that your business plan does not rely on luck and you hitting the motherload to make any money. Go for the consistent returns by supplying those in the niche with what they need.
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          • Profile picture of the author garyv
            My answer is D. - or "all of the above".

            I agree that action is necessary - but as the op said - knowledge is key! You have to know at least a little bit about what you're doing, before you leap right in. I'll never forget the post I read a few years back about the guy who had the "just do it" attitude when it came to Google Adwords. He learned the hard way (after having to refinance his house to pay the adwords bill) that it's best to read up on some things. Why make the same mistakes that others have already made and written about? So the answer is - Learn - Have No Fear - and Do! All of the above.
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