DAMN! It's Hard To Explain To People That Your An Internet Marketer

lol i spose I could try that

That is what I am telling to everyone when they ask me what I do for living :O. Sometimes is really annoying when you are trying to explain them and they think you are some stupid basta*D...

Haha tell me about it. I told my father to stop telling people what I do at family social events we are both attending cos people always come over, sit down next to me and ask me to explain this website thingee I do. So I say internet marketing specialist strategist. They usually look bewildered or confused at this point and stop asking. I know how you feel!

Anymore, only people I care about ask. I say I teach ppl how to make money online.

Saying you're a coach can be a good way around the "what you do question"...it seems to work well for me.

If it doesnt, I don't care what they think

Cheers,

Brad Spencer

To which you reply "To the uneducated it can seem like that." End of discussion.

He should tell people he's a fiction writer instead.

This sounds good. Internet Entrepreneur

I also give up explaining.. to avoid too much question..I just tell them I'm a webmaster and creates webpages and blogs. then...next question please ..

This one is my favorite so far...and so true!

"Internet Marketing is HOW you do your business, not WHAT you do".

For me, since I have not arrived yet...I just say I'm a student of Affiliate Marketing. And they always say, huh?! Then I just chuckle and keep quiet unless they press on about it.

I think when people ask that (stupid) question, as one warrior put it, I think what they really want to know is how much money are you worth...

I'm personally looking forward to the day when people ask me that question so I can say I make a great living working online as long as I have my laptop and an Internet connection.

Tristan, count your lucky stars! I know, I know, you're were not complaining. And that's great. But my friends and family (and they do care about me, too) still think I'm dreaming. They think, as if I'm going to make a living working online. It bothers me sometimes, but then again, I cannot wait to rub their noses in it, really!

I guess once I'm making good money, I will have the creditability factor.

For now, they just keep saying, well Mirza, I sure hope it works out for you! (with that tone in their voice, you know, the one where they're thinking call the men with the little white coats)

I could just scream...

Ahh...go suck an egg!:p

Are the self-employed NOT entrepreneurs or something?

Yeh I have used entrepreneur before but that usually leads to follow up questions of what I ACTUALLY do.

Ive also said online advertising and make websites.

It's not that big of a deal but it is something that happens to come up a fair bit.

Ive also said i'm just a student since I'm young and if I get a follow up questions I just say i'm studying IT.

But yeah it's a funny little thing, good to hear I'm not the only one who has this experience.

Yeah, so true...I have started noticing it more and more very recently.

But I find it so fun, I 'm actually watching for people's reaction...and I get everything from blank stares to interested looks or worried eyes (especially from adults and parents)

It's true that many people believe that working on the internet means you're either a spammer or a porn seller, and more often than not both

However, my friends seem to understand what I do (I have started telling them about 1 year ago so it's becoming easier for them to grasp the concept lol) and many are actually really interested in helping me out...everything is fine!

What I love to do is, while at parties, give different answers to different people...so at the end of the night, some think I'm a drug dealer (thanks Tim Ferriss for this one!), others a professional porn star or a published author and professional speaker
By the time they get together they all know I'm a professional LIAR

Anyway, on a more serious note, I think many Internet Marketers let these type of reactions get under their skins and annoy them. It was a big problem for me at the begining, especially with my parents , but now that I understand better the big picture of IM, I don't let it get to me...

I think it comes down to not needing other peoples approval, loving and understanding what you do.
Let's not forget that every time you talk to people is an opportunity to promote your business...so while I sometimes have fun with people, I try to get the word out there. If you're young and go out a lot (like I tend to do these times) it's a HUGE opportunity: the word can spread out quite rapidly, especially if your stuff is worthy of some word of mouth (and if you're directly selling to college students or a young target market, it's even better!)

So, guys, please stop letting it annoy you and start selling!...and have some Fun too

Have a great day

Damien

Most of the time, when people ask what you do, they don't really care. It's like when you run into someone and they say, "Hi. How are you?" They don't care. They don't want to hear a rundown of all of your recent aches and pains. They just want to hear, "Fine. And you?"

If the person asking is someone whose opinion you value, someone you'd like to get to know, someone you think is interesting, then I'd give them one of the great options already mentioned here, like saying you're in Internet marketing. Or prepare a little bit more detailed elevator speech and share that.

But if it's someone of the "Hi. How are you?" persuasion and you don't really want to get into it or spend the next 30 minutes expaining, go with you're a coach, a consultant, an entrepreneur.

I've found it's often enough to say, "I work from home online."

I just tell people I am retired. It's funny to see their reaction.

I tell I sell products on the internet. Then people ask what kind of products? I tell them I sell virtually everything from Television to apparel. The look on people's face has to be seen to be believed


Regards,
Anup Mahajan

Wow Tristan. Do I ever hear you on this one!

I have told my family about Internet Marketing and because I have made no real money from it, they get on my case about getting a real job.

I DO have what they call a "REAL JOB" right now and do this in my spare time. I work cooking in camps. Working 3 weeks on the job and then one week home. During that one week home I try to do as much with my IM business as I possibly can, working on it from the time I wake up around 7am until midnight with FEW breaks. Still having troubles making it work but that is another thread.

Anyway, over the Christmas holidays I got into an argument with my sister about it and I literally had to tell her to back off. Then when I was talking with my buddy yesterday the same thing! I told him to back off and drop the subject. They just don't see the big picture. Maybe if I just started bringing in 2000 to 5000 per month they will all just shut up and leave me alone!

One thing I can be greatful for is that my 73 year old mother understands better than anyone else. lol

I've found that if say i'm an internet marketer, the next question is "whats that"? so I just tell people I work from home teaching people how to make money on their computer. If they ask how, rather than try and explain, I just tell them to visit my website. It saves trying to explain.

I find this too be the easy reply, in a very off the
cuff laughing manner, i say, " well of course i am
a Crack Dealer, what else could make that kind of
money.

Been using that for years, as most people have
no idea what a Real Estate Investor is or does,
and no clue what an internet marketeer is.

Robert

I'm really fed up explaining it to people too. I've tried wording it so many different ways, most of which are met with blank stares, or, oh okay... My hairdresser who has known me a couple of years told me last week she still doesn't understand what I do. I explained it to her a few months ago, but oh well. I usually say I do Internet marketing selling digital products from web sites. Sounds simple enough to me, but since it's not one of those, I'm a nurse, I'm an accountant things, people get confused. My neighbors just think I'm some lazy woman that stays at home and tinkers on the computer. Puleaze.... if they knew the hours I put in this business! LOL.

Michele

At my place, people found me really weird just hang out 24 hours at home in front of laptop. The call me lousy people or whatever they like. I dont care and just tell them I'm unemployed.

Yes, that's right. I'm using "unemployed" excuse in order to less explanation. Moreover, if we explained too much it just like free consultation for them

haha..i run a dating coaching business where online marketing plays a large part of it.so when people ask what i do i say im a dating consultant and their like oh you mean like Hitch?and im like,well i have been in business before hitch ever came out..haha.

Ah I am so glad reading this thread.

I am just in the process of flat hunting and when asked what I do for a living, I don't know what to say. Once I just said 'Internet Marketer', and the lettings agent said they couldn't take that as an occupation.

Kind of knocked my confidence as I wasn't earning enough money to live off then but now it is all good

Still find it very hard explaining it to my parents as its 'Not a proper job,' or I get, 'I hope your not breaking the law.'

At which point I have learnt to just walk away.

I tell them that I'm selling elefants via Internet.

'But how are you delivering them?'

I use WinZip.

Maybe it's just me, but I've actually never had a problem trying to get people to understand what I do. Here is what a typical conversation looks like when I get asked what I do:

Person A: "So, what do you do for a living?"
Me: "I work from home doing Affiliate Marketing."
Person A: "Oh really? What's that?"
Me: "It's where I send traffic to a merchants website, and I get a percentage of the sale if they buy something."

At this point the conversation can shift depending on if the person needs more clarification or not. But for the most part they understand, and they go on to talk about something else, or ask more details about how I do it. A lot of times it will end like this:

Person A: "Wow, and you can make decent money doing that?"
Me: "I make more now doing this than when I worked at a day job."

At this point I'm usually smiling, and they seemed to be impressed. I've even had an offer at one point where the guy wanted to hire me as an affiliate for his new website he was building. I told him I'd think about it as I had enough on my plate at the time

Blocks - that's funny!

When someone asks me what I do for a living, I just say, "Mind your own business", and hand them my business card. My business card says "How to Mind Your Own Business", a short blurb about my services, and phone and website. It's all in good fun, breaks the ice, and I get a lot of leads that way. It seems many of you may be turning away business that could be profitable. Everyone is either a prospect, or in a position to know of someone that could be a prospect. Such a waste not to tap those offline resources.

I can understand how it might be difficult to explain to an uneducated Joe Beerbelly. (I've worked as a billing supervisor in a call center and have been constantly amazed at the lack of intelligence in so many people. I had to constantly remind myself "These are the bottom 20% of our customers.... These are the bottom 20% of our customers...." It's the old 80/20 rule, but very difficult to deal with when you're dealing with ONLY those 20% all day, every day. Grrr!)

But overall, I agree with Paul Uhl. If you can't explain it in simple terms to the average (intelligent) person, then how will you get offline business? To me, a business owner is a reasonably intelligent person. (After all, they had enough intelligence and ambition to start a business, didn't they? It's not something your average Joe Beerbelly will do.) So it's up to us to find a way to explain it in simple, understandable terms.

Just say "marketing." Most people, business owner or not, understands "marketing." If you just briefly explain that you market products/services on the Internet, it might go over better. (Yes, I know "Internet marketer" means the same thing, but I wonder if "Internet marketer" doesn't sound more "techie" and intimidating?) Now, your average man on the street, like your co workers, might not understand, but business owners and college graduates should.

And nobody else really matters anyway...

Michelle