What to Do vs. How to Do It

13 replies
There are tons of articles on the internet that tell us "What to do" and very few articles that tell us "How to do it" which leaves us "wanting" as in "I did not learn how to do it."

Ever seen a thread where a member titles it something like "How do I increase my conversion rate?" The person that started the thread (Original Poster) may give some details about the website, the offer, the content etc.

Typically, other members will source articles on the net with a list of things to increase a conversion rate, copy-n-paste the list into a reply to the Original Poster (OP).

Things like:
  • Write unique content for the reader.
  • Write quality content.
  • Use keywords in the content.
  • etc.
That's it. Nothing more than that.

At some point the OP replies to those posts of lists with something like "How do I do it?"

Meaning:

"How do I do write unique content for the reader?"
"How do I write quality content?"
"How do I know what keywords to use in the content?"

Typically the replies from the List Posters is...

The sound of silence. Crickets, chirp, chirp. No replies from the List Posters. Matter of fact the List Posters are typically new members with accounts dating back 10 years ago and their List Post was their first post. Typically, we never hear from them again.

Then comes a collection of very experience members that actually "Walk the Walk!" These members have a history of successful threads and posts and are successful business people on and off the internet. This collection of members are the forum's greatest asset, if you will, in terms of helpful and factual replies to others.

The good news is there are many experienced members on the forum ranging from the occasional post to members that contribute almost daily. Not to be confused with members that have a lot of posts that just post to advertise their signature and have little to no helpful advise. List Posters?

Owed to so many experienced members that "Walk the Walk" there will be a lot of similarities and there will also be a lot of dissimilarities. The main reason is simply because there are many ways of "How to" in Internet Marketing and not everyone does Internet Marketing the same. Example being an SEO Specialists may do the "How to" completely different compared to an SEM Marketer.

That in itself is good thing. Why? Simply because Internet Marketing is diverse and multifaceted wherein we learn from a diverse and multifaceted collection of experience members.

With that said, how do we learn "How to do it?" First, know that this forum has been around for a very long time and many questions have more than likely been asked before and likewise the question has been answered before.

Enter the forum "Search" feature. Simply input your question into the "search" and a list of threads and posts will be returned for you to review and learn "How to." Sometimes there is no list of list of threads and posts returned, so input your question differently and if that fails simply create a thread, say the search feature did not return an answer which show that you are serious, and be as detailed as possible with your information. Example: "I have a website in the xyz niche and am having trouble with sales conversions."

The question in itself tells experienced members that you know of things like "niche" and "conversions" so you will most likely get replies from two camps:
Experienced Marketers (The best replies)
and
List Posters (As described earlier)

Make sense?

Here is something else we all need to know. First and foremost, the experienced Internet Marketers know what they can and cannot contribute to in terms of helpful advise. They may respond to your query if they know it will help. Also, they may have limited time to allocate and may simply point you in the "right direction." That is a good thing. The phrase "right direction" is far better than that of a List Poster that typically does not know the difference between a direction and the "right direction".

The experienced Internet Marketers also know they may not be able to contribute simply because your question is not within their field of experience. That is also a good thing because they also know that other experienced Internet Marketers within that field of experience will typically share their experience.

When someone says something like "This is what I do" you have potentially discovered a gold nugget akin to a gold miner that discovered a gold nugget and in this context an experience marketer is telling you "How to do it."

Over time you may find a collection of members that you relate to and resonate with which makes for a positive experience here at the Warrior Forum. We are Warriors and some Warriors are thick skinned and may seem harsh. Know this.. We are all Warriors in our own ways. That is a good thing.

The main takeaway is many Warriors here have only good intentions and many do their very best to contribute and that is...

"How to do it,"
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  • Profile picture of the author Forseti
    Thanks for the interesting approach in the article. I could not understand why the answers to the question were often contradictory.
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  • Profile picture of the author Medon
    I should thank myself for coming here. It is great place and I have learned a lot. I will keep reading threads here.
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  • Profile picture of the author Profit Traveler
    Banned
    Hey Jeff,

    You made me think about how did I get to the belief system I have today in regards to internet marketing.

    Warrior Forum!

    Without a doubt it has had the most profound impact on me that has lasted for over a decade.

    I had a very early lighting strike as a total Newbie here.

    My first attempt at a eBook/WSO was a huge hit. Just 26 pages for $10 a pop and sold 3000+ copies in the end.

    My profile back then was HonestBizPro but some one must have liked that name because they went and registered it as a .com so I changed it later.

    But anyway my point is when you have that type of success early it is hard for your ears to hear that you have to wait for months to monetize that you have to blog... Oh nooo not the blog word.I hate Blogging personally.

    But I know we have to embrace it because it creates leverage and can build authority and credibility.

    So when someone comes in contact with me of course I am going to point them in the direction of Product Creation and listbuilding which I never fully embraced until this year I am still kicking myself for that one.

    But someone else may recommend blogging about blogging because it will remain ever green as there will always be people looking to master it.


    I always share that if you are on a Webinar and they have you wanting to reach for your credit card for $2000 then the lesson is you need to start creating and promoting Webinars!


    But if I ever meet Allen Says I may have to break social distance and give him a long arm hug haha. He created a place to learn, Implement, Ask, AND SELL.

    That had huge impact on me. Even Allen selling the Warrior Forum to Freelancer is a take notes entrepreneur lesson.

    Thanks for taking time to separate from the pack and try to give people the real deal insights into this world we live in that can push us to the top of a roller coaster and sometimes dive like one.

    Do you think there will ever be a thread on This is how your fellow marketers reverse engineer your site, use scrapers, negative SEO, tap into your affiliates, and borrow your content.
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  • Profile picture of the author DURABLEOILCOM
    Great post! You can learn Alot from Warrior Forum if you can ask the correct questions, assimilate the information and the key to success is take action.
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  • Profile picture of the author ibramster
    Nice post, there is a business in there. Taking the 'what to do' and turning it into the 'how to do'. If as you say there is an abundance of the former and a scarcity of the latter, which is what people want, then here is a starving crowd. Thank you.
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    fastbusinessgrowth4u.com Direct marketing coach and guest writer. I write content for you and we split 50/50 any sales that happen. PM me to see if we can help each other.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    Originally Posted by Forseti View Post

    Thanks for the interesting approach in the article. I could not understand why the answers to the question were often contradictory.
    Originally Posted by Medon View Post

    I should thank myself for coming here. It is great place and I have learned a lot. I will keep reading threads here.
    Originally Posted by Profit Traveler View Post

    Hey Jeff,

    You made me think about how did I get to the belief system I have today in regards to internet marketing.

    Warrior Forum!

    Without a doubt it has had the most profound impact on me that has lasted for over a decade.

    I had a very early lighting strike as a total Newbie here.

    My first attempt at a eBook/WSO was a huge hit. Just 26 pages for $10 a pop and sold 3000+ copies in the end.

    My profile back then was HonestBizPro but some one must have liked that name because they went and registered it as a .com so I changed it later.

    But anyway my point is when you have that type of success early it is hard for your ears to hear that you have to wait for months to monetize that you have to blog... Oh nooo not the blog word.I hate Blogging personally.

    But I know we have to embrace it because it creates leverage and can build authority and credibility.

    So when someone comes in contact with me of course I am going to point them in the direction of Product Creation and listbuilding which I never fully embraced until this year I am still kicking myself for that one.

    But someone else may recommend blogging about blogging because it will remain ever green as there will always be people looking to master it.


    I always share that if you are on a Webinar and they have you wanting to reach for your credit card for $2000 then the lesson is you need to start creating and promoting Webinars!


    But if I ever meet Allen Says I may have to break social distance and give him a long arm hug haha. He created a place to learn, Implement, Ask, AND SELL.

    That had huge impact on me. Even Allen selling the Warrior Forum to Freelancer is a take notes entrepreneur lesson.

    Thanks for taking time to separate from the pack and try to give people the real deal insights into this world we live in that can push us to the top of a roller coaster and sometimes dive like one.

    Do you think there will ever be a thread on This is how your fellow marketers reverse engineer your site, use scrapers, negative SEO, tap into your affiliates, and borrow your content.
    Originally Posted by DURABLEOILCOM View Post

    Great post! You can learn Alot from Warrior Forum if you can ask the correct questions, assimilate the information and the key to success is take action.
    Originally Posted by ibramster View Post

    Nice post, there is a business in there. Taking the 'what to do' and turning it into the 'how to do'. If as you say there is an abundance of the former and a scarcity of the latter, which is what people want, then here is a starving crowd. Thank you.

    Your welcome and thank you.
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    In the minute it took me to write this post.. someone died of Covid 19. RIP.
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  • Profile picture of the author sahi
    People always prefer "How to do" articles and information and I've seen in many video courses and products that the main ingredient that's missing is "How to do it", and leaves people wondering "what to do next"
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  • Profile picture of the author mandiradebnath
    I am an SEO specialist and do the Google Adwords campaign sometimes with the help of my seniors. I am really glad to read this post, It will help me to do my job in a better way. thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    The fact of the matter is that most people just don't do anything.
    If you tell them what to do, they procrastinate wanting you to
    provide them with a step-by-step how-to tutorial. And once you
    give them that, they still don't do anything. What to do is to get
    started. Do something. Make something happen. The how to
    do it part will be learned by actually doing. On the job training.
    Learn as you go. Do and learn.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      The fact of the matter is that most people just don't do anything.
      In my experience, people that ask "How do I do it?" are not in the "most people" that you claim "just don't do anything."

      In fact, most people that ask the question have already tried to do xyz and just need a little help to complete the xyz action.

      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      If you tell them what to do, they procrastinate wanting you to
      provide them with a step-by-step how-to tutorial. And once you
      give them that, they still don't do anything.
      The main reason for people procrastinating is because they see so many replies from people that differ in what they should do. That in itself would confuse anyone trying to learn "what to do".

      Imagine someone in college in the Army taking a course for six months and transfers to the Air Force and enrolls in the same course. Two different professors and each professor has dissimilar actions that achieve the same result.

      It can be very confusing for someone trying to learn "how to do it" in a forum where everyone is a so called professor of sorts coming at you from so many different angles.

      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      What to do is to get
      started. Do something. Make something happen. The how to
      do it part will be learned by actually doing. On the job training.
      Learn as you go. Do and learn.
      Okay, what is the first thing a person should do after installing WordPress? What is the very first action they should complete. Hint.. before the search engine bots hit the site.

      Just do it? Do what? Hint.. better do it the right way the first time. There will be a long difficult road ahead of your business if done wrong.
      Signature
      In the minute it took me to write this post.. someone died of Covid 19. RIP.
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      • Profile picture of the author Monetize
        Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post


        Originally Posted by Monetize

        The fact of the matter is that most people just don't do anything.

        Respectfully - That is what I think about it, that is my firm opinion. I have
        mine and you have yours and that is fine. And as a woman of a particular
        age, I doubt that I'll be changing my mind about certain things.




        Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post


        Okay, what is the first thing a person should do after installing WordPress? What is the very first action they should complete. Hint.. before the search engine bots hit the site.

        Just do it? Do what? Hint.. better do it the right way the first time. There will be a long difficult road ahead of your business if done wrong.

        The first thing a person should do BEFORE even installing WordPress is
        to plan the site, develop content, graphics, etc. But again, most people
        who install WordPress do not have any plan. Choosing a theme, plugins,
        setting up pages/posts should be structured by having a well thought out
        plan. There are gazillions of half baked spammy WordPress and HTML
        sites on the internet because people didn't have a plan and don't know
        what they are doing.

        Anyway. To all the people who wonder what to do and how to do it:

        Just.

        Do.

        Something.

        Productive.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
      Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

      Okay, what is the first thing a person should do after installing WordPress? What is the very first action they should complete. Hint.. before the search engine bots hit the site.

      Just do it? Do what? Hint.. better do it the right way the first time. There will be a long difficult road ahead of your business if done wrong.

      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      Respectfully - That is what I think about it, that is my firm opinion. I have mine and you have yours and that is fine. And as a woman of a particular age, I doubt that I'll be changing my mind about certain things.
      Respectfully - I am not challenging you, rather I value your opinion and always have. Mean that in a good way.

      Originally Posted by Monetize View Post

      The first thing a person should do BEFORE even installing WordPress is
      to plan the site, develop content, graphics, etc. But again, most people
      who install WordPress do not have any plan. Choosing a theme, plugins,
      setting up pages/posts should be structured by having a well thought out
      plan. There are gazillions of half baked spammy WordPress and HTML
      sites on the internet because people didn't have a plan and don't know
      what they are doing.

      Anyway. To all the people who wonder what to do and how to do it:

      Just.

      Do.

      Something.

      Productive.

      Great answer about "how to do it" BEFORE a WP site is installed and for any business venture for that fact.


      My question was...


      Okay, what is the first thing a person should do after installing WordPress? What is the very first action they should complete.


      Hint.. before the search engine bots hit the site.


      Hint.. better do it the right way the first time. There will be a long difficult road ahead of your business if done wrong.


      Hint.. better do it the right way the first time. There will be a long difficult road ahead of your business if done wrong.

      The keyword in the question is after.

      Meaning, when a person specifically asks a "What do I do" question and the replied answer does not address the specific question, i.e. before vs. after, the person asking the question did not get a specific answer.


      Typically, that person is left confused and they typically will not take action or left to their own devices will do more harm that good by just 'doing something', 'making something happen' and in this case they will learn the hard way by not actually doing it right.


      In that context there was no 'on the job training' and unfortunately they discovered "Do it wrong and learn it wrong" may have consequences.
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      In the minute it took me to write this post.. someone died of Covid 19. RIP.
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  • When someone says something like "This is what I do" you have potentially discovered a gold nugget akin to a gold miner that discovered a gold nugget and in this context an experience marketer is telling you "How to do it."
    This is exactly why I'm here for.
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