Two "Why I Left ______" articles with lessons for IMers.

Last week, two high ranking employees at large, industry leading companies published articles outlining why they had left their employers.

One was at Google ( Why I left Google - JW on Tech - Site Home - MSDN Blogs )

The other was at Goldman Sachs ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/op...ef=global-home )

Now, you might be wondering what, exactly, Goldman Sachs has to do with IM. I will say from the beginning that this post has nothing to do with the details of what these two authors were doing at their jobs, and everything to do with what their articles say about a very common business trap that many IMers fall into.

What I am talking about is the tendency of many information product marketers to put product sales before product development. You know that earth-shattering, paradigm shifting, famine-curing product that turns out to be just another 50 page ebook with 16 point font and a billion stock images? Well, it turns out that it's not just IMers who do that. The same basic pattern of behavior can be observed at the biggest companies in the world.

Consider this quote from the Sachs article:

Think about that. How many businesses do you know of that would gladly sell a four figure product, with the price not tied to performance in any meaningful way? Just off the top of my head, I know that Eben Pagan's materials specifically emphasize the importance of high priced products, without really going into details on what justifies the high price (note: I'm not knocking Eben at all, I love the guy's stuff, just citing this as one example of the mindset I'm talking about). It seems that the number one approach people take when marketing higher priced products is providing more extravagant income claims, not tracking and tweaking the program for client success. The idea of tracking performance and long term results-monitoring is rarely part of the equation.

Now look at this, from the Google guy's article:

See a connection?

If Google is losing ad revenue to Facebook (maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I don't know), it's for the same reason that Goldman's net income is down this year, and the same reason that many IMers aren't making the money they want: they're putting the marketing before the product.

We are living in an era where more people than ever are looking to the internet as a source of income. Whether due to declining job opportunities, a desire for independence, or a combination of both, a lot more people are going to be showing up in the world of internet marketing, eager to make a dollar.

Which is why it's so important emphasize constantly that internet marketing is not so much a business, as something that a business uses. If you can help your clients get improved search engine rankings, sales, or reputations with your services, that's great. But always remember that, like Frank Kern says, your business is about getting results, not internet marketing. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that talk of the latest IM craze is enough to justify a new WSO with a slick sales copy and a high price tag. Ultimately, you're better off doing what you do well, getting good results for your clients, and building a business from referrals as well as sincere (not hype-y) marketing.

Your business might not be big enough that one or two bad experiences will leave you with former employees penning negative op-eds in the New York Times, but if the principle of "marketing before products" can hurt the biggest companies in their respective industries, there's no reason it can't hurt the average IMer, too.

Just a thought.