Share what you want to learn or what you have learned about IM this week. April 26, 2017 Edition

Want to learn: Everything about gaining targeted traffic with less investment (free if possible) in simple ways.

Learned about using YouTube descriptions really needing to be extensive.

Whichever way you use to make money, I think the most important thing is to give value to your subscribers and customers.

When I said give value, I mean treating others the way you like to be treated.

Though this has been mentioned by UK marketer Chris Farrell in his AffilateDotCom launch with Mike Filsaime 7 years ago, it took me a long time to understand this.

Considering that I am an introvert and don't usually socialize much with people.

Plus the fact that I came from Southeast Asian country of Singapore.

Not sure if you have ever heard, been to or even have friends staying, working or just on holiday in Singapore before.

But what i can tell you is that my country is very social-community-and-values-driven nation as a whole.

Considering that 80% of the TV and movies focus on family, school, army and work values.

Plus the government takes a very tough stand against those who don't abide by those rules.

That in a nutshell as a whole culture is what makes me say that.

Giving value to others.

Learned that some things like building relationships or credibility is important even if it takes long. Short cut methods like accumulating followers is worthless

Hmm... not so much learned, but I was reminded of how important trust is with your email list. Once you lose it, it's hard as f*ck to get it back.

1. Target a Small Niche With a Passionate Audience and Grow With Time
2. 3. Create Insanely Useful, Actionable and Detailed Content That Solves Problems
3. Focus on Building a Loyal Community Around Your Niche Site by Helping People

To be a successful and phenomenal internet marketer (IM), you've got to fill your brain!

This might sound a little bit aggressive for most of you but I mean it. Before I ventured into this amazing freelancing job, I asked myself many times, "what would the world want to hear from me?" There are a lot of voices out there wanting to be heard and are so eager to teach other people "how-to" stuff and secret hacks to improve their lifestyle. In fact, milllions of them. But how would an internet marketer stand out among the crowd? It's your consistency and expertise in your subject matter (niche).

These past few weeks, I've been reading the works of Michael Hyatt. He was the former CEO of a prominent publishing company, Thomas Nelson. A quick view of his website would give you a hint of how successful he is in the IM field. I've learned from him how to create a content that people would crave to read. These include the following criteria:

1. Unique contents or collected information that are well organized and referenced;
2. New information on a regular basis, not repetitive and copy-pasted;
3. Doesn't spam and fool around subscribers into irrelevant offers;
4. Competence is reflected through proper research of subject matter;
5. Contents answer the "how-to's" and why's of the subscribers.

I remember one of the blogs I've read about an internet marketer claiming that you don't have to be an expert to be successful in this field. At some point I agree. But let me tell you this (and this is just my personal opinion, doesn't apply to all). How would you feel about earning hundreds of thousands of dollars with the guilt feeling inside that it is not you are are giving value to your subscriber, but you paid somebody else to do this for you? How would your subscribers trust you if you are in doubt of yourself and the skills you've got?

Finally, my last advise would be to find mentors - virtual or physical ones - from whom you could learn a lesson or two about internet marketing or anything that is related to your niche. Continue to fill your brain with new, interesting, and exciting information and hacks that you would feel proud of sharing to your subscribers. Make it a habit and you will be an authority in your expertise.