Would you agree the term "Internet Marketer" sounds a bit dodgy?

54 replies
I think the term has gotten a bad reputation. Do you agree?
#agree #bit #dodgy #internet marketer #sounds #term
  • Profile picture of the author kchui1028
    i prefer to answer someone that im in media marketing when asked by professionals, ex. bankers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    I would say that any kind of sales and marketing in general already has a bad rep, the platform is irrelevant.

    But I don't believe it is due to the industry being 'dodgy' but more to do with the fact that there are many people in this world who have a problem with selling people things and consider repackaged information a scam because it is available for free.

    What these people don't seem to understand is that people aren't that stupid and know that if they did do a little research they could find this information, but they would rather just pay for it and save themselves the trouble of researching it themselves.

    And so they project their insecurities on anybody who works in the industry.


    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author rft123
    Not sure if it has gotten a bad rap, but if it has it is because of the people who think that the internet is the perfect place to cheat people who are honestly looking for valuable and useful products and services. I understand why people are so worried about getting scammed on the internet because there are so many crooks operating "businesses" on the internet.

    I'm still not sure that the term internet marketer has a bad reputation. I'm sure that the "internet" has a bad reputation.

    Just my two cents. Have a great day!
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  • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
    Brad, the only time I would describe myself as an Internet marketer is when I'm with others in the same business.

    A lot of people just plain and simple don't like others who do something for a living that they don't understand. Really!

    If someone asks me what I do, I look around and see what type of crowd I'm in. My response depends on who I'm around. I've used the following descriptions depending on the situation...

    Author
    Writer
    Publishing Consultant
    Internet Consultant
    Media Consultant

    But, Internet marketer?--I'm not sure it has become a dodgy title, I just don't think like to hear terms they don't understand. While everyone here on the WF knows what it means to be an Internet marketer--I think the public at large is suspicious of things they don't understand.
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    I just say that I'm a programmer and I sell my Internet based software. Most people I meet have a bad view of "Internet Marketing" so I try not to use that term.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheNewGuy2010
    Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

    I think the term has gotten a bad reputation. Do you agree?
    No, not at all.

    We think that because we live in "IM World"

    Most NON-IMers don't even know what IM is.

    Most people are not and will never be IMers.
    Signature
    Retired Internet Marketer.
    Gone Fishing....
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    • Profile picture of the author kchui1028
      you can always just say you own an internet company. CEO, internet startup, etc... you can word it into whatever you want really.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lou Diamond
    Hello,
    people if you are ashamed of what you do I think you have a major problem.
    I would never be afraid to say what I do for a living.
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    Something new soon.

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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
      Originally Posted by Lou Diamond View Post

      Hello,
      people if you are ashamed of what you do I think you have a major problem.
      I would never be afraid to say what I do for a living.
      Nobody said they were ashamed of what they do. Other people give me sour looks when I say Internet Marketer.

      Some bad apples have made us all look scammy. I am just opening a dialogue to see if we can all come up with a more professional sounding label for what we do.

      I for one am not just an internet marketer. I am:

      Entrepreneur
      Product Creator
      Writer
      SEO expert
      Blogger
      Twitter addict
      Etc.


      I wish to find a better rounded label for all those things
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  • Profile picture of the author petelta
    The term marketer is seen as a spammer or someone who annoys the crap out of you. Just take a look at the Marketing section for job searches on Craigslist. There are very few job listing for an actual marketing position. Most are just scams.

    Lou, you're right about not being ashamed at what you do, but when presenting yourself to possible business or customers, you can always use a different approach to how you describe your profession.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    I think it has a bad rep, yes, because of scammers, I guess.

    Also, I think it's too general. However, if you have your feet in many parts of IM, it probably fits better than anything else.

    But it's true, I think it has a bad rep to most people, for one reason or another.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Needs some other names? Make up your own.

    Online Opportunity Expert
    Internet Product Retailer
    E-commerce Practitioner
    Product Positioning Expert
    Home Business Value Creator
    Purchasing Opportunity Director
    Shopping Facilitator
    Unemployment Avoidance Coordinator

    Money Getter
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    • Profile picture of the author TheNewGuy2010
      Good one.....


      Originally Posted by Dennis Gaskill View Post

      Needs some other names? Make up your own.


      Unemployment Avoidance Coordinator


      Money Getter
      Signature
      Retired Internet Marketer.
      Gone Fishing....
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    • Profile picture of the author countonuspr
      I started telling people that I do consulting to help people start businesses and help businesses get more business.

      People seem to understand that much better.

      Another one that I can't take credit for came from my friend and fellow marketer Paul Evans. He said he tells people that he is a "Freedom Architect". He said that always keeps them guessing! He explains it by saying he helps people get more freedom in their lives.
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      Paul Counts, Host of the "Count On Us Internet Profits Radio Show"
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  • Profile picture of the author Sleaklight
    I think the term has been devalued by the thousands of wannabe Internet Marketers. There are few true Internet Marketers but there are thousands of Internet promoters that are simply giving real Internet Marketers a bad reputation.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimGross
    Well, as I've been saying for 10+ years, the term "Internet Marketer" is essentially meaningless. If your main source of advertising for your business was magazines and someone asked you what you did for a living, would you call yourself a "magazine marketer"? -Of course not.

    You'd call yourself a publisher. A manufacturer. An advertising company. A product developer. A writer. A software developer. That's what you are. Where you do it (for many people here of course, online...) is just your advertising media or promotional medium. It's an important distinction to keep straight, at least for yourself.

    "Can I make money online?" is as silly of a question as, "Can I make money opening up a retail store on Main Street?" "Can I make money if I go to college?" "Can I make money if I wear a suit?" "Can I make money if I take a commission-based sales position?"

    The answer to all those questions of course is, "Who knows? What skills do you have? What resources do you have at your disposal?"

    Whether you're marketing on the Internet, magazines, newspapers, word of mouth, retail stores, freeway off-ramps, fortune cookies, stickers on the back of your car... that's the "how", not "what".

    So to come full circle, if someone asks what you do and you say, "Internet marketing", it sounds evasive. It sounds secretive. If that's all you can say about what you do, it sounds B1ack Hat. And because it sounds secretive, yes - it sounds dodgy.

    Me? I'm a publisher, a copywriter, an advertiser, a website developer, a writer, a software developer, and a business consultant. A lot of what I do happens to take place online.

    Important point: If the Internet ceased to exist tomorrow (as Allen Says has said before, he never takes anything for granted), every "hat" I just listed (except for "website developer") is 100% applicable to other advertising media as well.

    That's why I'm not a quote-unquote "Internet marketer".
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    • Profile picture of the author Andy Immotna
      I agree... Simply saying that you're an internet marketer (not specific on what you do), most people don't even have idea what is it you do..


      Originally Posted by TimGross View Post

      Well, as I've been saying for 10+ years, the term "Internet Marketer" is essentially meaningless. If your main source of advertising for your business was magazines and someone asked you what you did for a living, would you call yourself a "magazine marketer"? -Of course not.

      You'd call yourself a publisher. A manufacturer. An advertising company. A product developer. A writer. A software developer. That's what you are. Where you do it (for many people here of course, online...) is just your advertising media or promotional medium. It's an important distinction to keep straight, at least for yourself.

      "Can I make money online?" is as silly of a question as, "Can I make money opening up a retail store on Main Street?" "Can I make money if I go to college?" "Can I make money if I wear a suit?" "Can I make money if I take a commission-based sales position?"

      The answer to all those questions of course is, "Who knows? What skills do you have have? What resources do you have at your disposal?"

      Whether you're marketing on the Internet, magazines, newspapers, word of mouth, retail stores, freeway off-ramps, fortune cookies, stickers on the back of your car... that's the "how", not "what".

      So to come full circle, if someone asks what you do and you say, "Internet marketing", it sounds evasive. It sounds secretive. If that's all you can say about what you do, it sounds B1ack Hat. And because it sounds secretive, yes - it sounds dodgy.

      Me? I'm a publisher, a copywriter, an advertiser, a website developer, a writer, a software developer, and a business consultant. A lot of what I do happens to take place online.

      Important point: If the Internet ceased to exist tomorrow (as Allen Says has said before, he never takes anything for granted), every "hat" I just listed (except for "website developer") is 100% applicable to other advertising media as well.

      That's why I'm not a quote-unquote "Internet marketer".
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  • Profile picture of the author Tonio Smith
    Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

    I think the term has gotten a bad reputation. Do you agree?
    For me, the term only represents this particular industry that has positive and negative attachments to it.

    Bad rep. Yes! good rep. Yes!
    ClinTonio
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    I tell people that I am in the advertising business.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tonio Smith
    I just tell every one that I build websites......

    ClinTonio
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary McCaffrey
    When asked what I do, I say I run an internet company.

    But I plan to open a health food cafe/store soon so that will be much easier to talk about.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tonio Smith
      Originally Posted by Gary McCaffrey View Post

      When asked what I do, I say I run an internet company.

      But I plan to open a health food cafe/store soon so that will be much easier to talk about.
      When someone tend to ask what you do they are normally just trying to fiend a commonality between the to of you so it is best to change the topic to something that connects the 2 of you.

      ClinTonio
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      • Profile picture of the author Gary McCaffrey
        Originally Posted by Tonio Smith View Post

        When someone tend to ask what you do they are normally just trying to fiend a commonality between the to of you so it is best to change the topic to something that connects the 2 of you.

        ClinTonio
        Yea you can end up talking about yourself a bit too much when people ask about your internet business, most people just don't really get it.

        As for SEO soon being a thing of the past, that will happen when search engines are a thing of the past. While there are search engines, there will be SEO.
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        • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
          Originally Posted by Gary McCaffrey View Post

          Yea you can end up talking about yourself a bit too much when people ask about your internet business, most people just don't really get it.

          As for SEO soon being a thing of the past, that will happen when search engines are a thing of the past. While there are search engines, there will be SEO.
          Agreed on the SEO front. People have been saying for years the game will change. It has changed but you still have to play.
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            I may be a bit of a smartass (actually, it's pretty well documented ), but when someone tells me they are an "Internet Marketer" I always say "cool, how many Internets have you sold this week?"

            I prefer to tell people, depending on context, any or all of the following:

            > I own a small publishing business.

            > I own a small sales and marketing firm.

            > I do some consulting on the side.

            At least in the USA, there's a wide difference between being a marketer of any flavor and owning a marketing company - or a company of any type.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Lin
    I am about to make a name card with title like "Internet Marketing Consultant" think should change to something like "SEO Consultant" or "Online Marketing Consultant"?
    Lets discard the term "Marketer" that fills a person's mind with skeptic.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tonio Smith
      Originally Posted by Alex Lin View Post

      I am about to make a name card with title like "Internet Marketing Consultant" think should change to something like "SEO Consultant" or "Online Marketing Consultant"?
      Lets discard the term "Marketer" that fills a person's mind with skeptic.
      It is my thinking that you should go with "Online Marketing Consultant"
      SEO is going to be a thing of the past...

      ClinTonio
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    Yea - to me it is the "marketer" part. Reminds me of MLM or other Amway-type models.

    So many people have been burned by those type of models that "marketer" has a bad rap as far as I can tell.

    I always tell people that I own an online business or that I run an Internet business. While they may think "porn" - LOL - I still think it is better than "Internet marketer."

    Cheers,
    Allen

    p.s. I don't run any porn sites - it was just a joke.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

    I think the term has gotten a bad reputation. Do you agree?
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    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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    • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
      When I see someone call themselves it I just think about how they really don't have a clue what they are. As to me it's a coined term that doesn't say a lot for the person who calls themselves it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I sometimes call myself "advertising guy"... sometimes "freelance writer"

    ... it depends if I want to get business or not in the situation.
    Most people who know what internet marketing is are, in my
    experience, interested in making money at it and don't have
    a bad attitude about the term. People who don't know what
    it is... well, they don't know.

    If you really want to get a rise, tell people "I'm a salesman"
    and see how they react.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ilya Feynberg
    One problem could be that too many IM'ers see themselves as just a sales copy writing, affiliate marketing, adwords pushing, behind the computer in their room in the middle of the night, using plr articles....person.

    Yahoo, Zappoes.com, Facebook, etc are all in the same field as us (more or less). Treat it like a business, a company, a start up, a brand, not an "internet marketing gig".
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucky Edo
    When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them I am a web employé, affiliate marketer, webmaster or web worker, then if they want more details I can move on telling them all what is actually involved.

    There's nothing we can do about that. Since adam there have always been people like that, a few people who destroy the reputation of thousands of others.

    This don't just happen in the internet marketing field but everywhere in every work of life, in goverment religion etc. It's a pity we live in a world chock-full of hypocrites.

    It will be unwise to judge the act of others by just the action of one selfish or wicked individual, but fortunately that's the way it is in the world we live in.

    So to the honest web workers out there, you must learn to survive in the midst of these wolves in sheep clothing so as to carry on and survive with your normal working activity.

    Peace to y'all WARRIORS
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  • Profile picture of the author Domainoutlaw
    Yea Internet Marketer does get a bad rap I feel. In school we called them e-Marketers. I dont think that sounds as bad.
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  • Profile picture of the author Simons
    I just say "computer guy" - normally they are pretty bored by then
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Lin
    If you are asked by friend "What do you do for living?" Okay lets get the title straight; avoid being doggy.

    If you are doing article marketing > "Copy writer"

    PPC > Advertising Consultant

    Affiliate Marketing > Sales Representative

    Blogging > Website Content Creator

    Collecting list of subscriber > Spammer (just kidding) 'Public Relation' would be a better term.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adstar
    We are what we are. If we promote and sell on the Internet
    we are Internet marketers.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Lin
      Originally Posted by Adstar View Post

      We are what we are. If we promote and sell on the Internet
      we are Internet marketers.
      'Internet Marketer' has became the classic term for internet marketer. How many 'internet' did you sell anyway?
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  • Profile picture of the author Manfred Ekblad
    I tell people I'm a Money Attraction Coach - using my own magnetic, hypnotizing 7-step "below-the-radar" foolproof way of creating wealth out of thin air.

    Ok, I don't...

    ...but when I say that I'm "the General Manager" of a company in Indonesia, it has the same effect: Rolling eyes.

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  • Profile picture of the author cronyoo
    hi,
    i am not sure but may be you are right about that thanks for asking bro
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    How true you are... That reminds me of in the 80's girls would ask me what I do, and I would tell them - computer programmer. The date was - over. In fact, their nerd alarm would ring.

    I did quickly learn to say EDP manager. BTW EDP means electronic data processing.

    Words are weapons.
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  • Profile picture of the author jockpurtle
    It has only got a bad rep because of the wild wet days of the last 5 years where there were cheesy salesman and crappy marketing.

    There is now a move towards ethical style marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author coach
    No, Brad

    ... I don't.

    The only negative I hear is inside the community itself.

    Outside the community, its more an issue of not understanding it.

    People understand "consultant," "publisher," etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mohammad Afaq
    It's the same with any kind of marketing.

    As soon as people hear the word marketer, they start acting like the just saw a snake
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  • Profile picture of the author imseo
    Banned
    It depends on what you're marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author LaunchGal
      I don't use the title myself but have experienced a negative impression around it. Ironic isn't it.... most people understand the benefits [yeah, they all want to get top ranking on google]....how else would they get there?

      Jane
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  • Profile picture of the author Adam Carn
    The term is a bit cheesy (corny) I have to admit. And I agree with Brad, some people don't seem too fond of you when you mention you're an internet marketer.

    So yeah I'm up for another label.

    Thanks,
    Adam
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    Taking a break...
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Endres
    More than a few times, when asked about what I do for a living, and I say internet marketer, I just get blank stares or they quickly change the subject. Now that I've written a few books, I can call myself an author and internet business owner. People are much more receptive to that.
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    • Profile picture of the author urbrock
      we should all quit and get real jobs!
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  • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
    Originally Posted by Brad Gosse View Post

    I think the term has gotten a bad reputation. Do you agree?
    that's why I use Internet consultant
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  • Profile picture of the author jakedenver
    I tell people I am in "Information Marketing". When it comes to CPA I do "internet promotions for fortune 500 companies". But in my case I don't do physical products...

    You are right to some extent. But if you feel this way about the term, you might want to re-think:confused: your reasons for doing Internet Marketing. If you don't dream about it... Why are you doing it?.

    This is not what most would consider productive thinking.

    As long as I am making more money...

    As long as I am doing what I love...

    What the term of my profession is?.

    Not Worth My Time. Get Your Head In The Game Man!.

    To Your Success!. _JC
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    • Profile picture of the author Brad Gosse
      Originally Posted by Jack Cramer View Post

      You are right to some extent. But if you feel this way about the term, you might want to re-think:confused: your reasons for doing Internet Marketing. If you don't dream about it... Why are you doing it?.
      I don't dream, I do. This is my job and has been for over a decade. My reasons for doing what I do remain the same. I am talking about peoples impressions not my own.
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  • Profile picture of the author Big Al
    I'm not sure anyone I know would understand the term ... but if you said selling stuff online I think they'd either think ebay or scammer.
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