Bloggers Vs Internet Marketers - Which One Are You? by Gobala
Krishnan
What is the fundamental difference between a blogger and an Internet marketer?
Is there any difference at all to begin with?
Since I had nothing better to do today, I decided to take the risk of being
flamed by hate mail by telling you exactly where the line is drawn. While these
are examples from the extreme ends of the online publishing spectrum, I believe
you'll see my point by the end of this article.
Nowadays, almost every Internet marketer I know has a blog. However, none of
them like to be called a blogger. Most bloggers on the other hand think they're
Internet marketers. Those poor misguided souls.
Here's what fundamentally different between a blogger and a real Internet
marketer making a living online:
1) Living on Search Engine Traffic
The most obvious trait I've seen in a blogger is their over-reliance on search
engine traffic. In fact, probably the only way they know of getting visitors to
their blogs is by getting a "degree" in Google, and spending all their time
trying to please Big-G.
Internet marketers on the other hand see search engine traffic as just one
component of their entire marketing campaign. They have access to a wider range
of tools such as articles, joint-ventures, pay-per-click advertising and email
marketing to mention a few. They have the knowledge to use them and they do so
regularly.
2) Lack Of Control Over Their Mailing List
Another common trait of a blogger is the dependence on RSS subscription
services like Feedburner to build a database of potential customers. they're
content with the fact that by doing this they will never be able to send
messages to their loyal readers other than what they post on their blogs.
When you get to a blog maintained by an Internet marketer, instead of seeing a
"Subscribe by Feedburner" form, you'll see a "special offer" or reason to
optin, followed by a customized form using Aweber or a similar service. By
doing this, the Internet market captures the full details of his visitors and
is free to send them emails that were never intended to be published on their
blogs.
The Internet marketer also analyzes his list to determine their interests, and
provides more value based on this findings. He masters his list and knows that
they're his most important asset; not the blog.
3) Reluctance on Promoting Affiliate Products
I've seen so many bloggers state "That's my affiliate link" right after they
post it on their blogs. It's almost as if they're afraid of their readers
finding out that they somehow benefit by putting that link up. They feel guilty
making money from others with an affiliate link, so they clearly brand it as
such.
The Internet marketer however has no issues with this. His job is to promote
products he feels will benefit his market, and he is not afraid to get paid for
it. In fact, the Internet marketer EXPECTS to get paid for his efforts, or he
doesn't bother doing it at all.
4) Just Publishing Vs Real Marketing
Most blogger are publishers. They focus on getting content up, and then wait
for people to come and chew it up. "Build it and they will come", says the
blogger. You can't really blame them for taking that stand, because they lack
marketing and advertising skills. They really have no other option.
Internet marketers on the other hand know that the marketing graveyard is
filled with great ideas and excellent content that never saw the light of day.
They know that they need to get out there and market themselves, their products
and their overall brand in order to survive in the long term.
5) Limited Knowledge on Monetizing Traffic
Bloggers know of only one monetization method: advertising. The easiest is of
course some sort of contextual advertising like Google Adsense or Chitika. Some
even go for blog advertising networks and selling text links on their blog, but
at the end of the day, they're still dependent of advertising dollars.
The Internet marketer has more tricks up his sleeve. He knows that advertising
income is as stable as a melting glacier, and he diversifies his income by
selling his own products or services on his blog. In fact, most of them don't
even bother with contextual ads because they live much higher up the
food-chain.
Let me just say that a true Internet marketer can make the same amount of money
from 3 pages of his blog that the average blogger does with 300.
This article may disgust you (if you're a blogger) or may strike a chord in
your inner melody (if you're an Internet marketer). Bloggers may say "Oh... but
I get tons of traffic, I make money from Adsense and I'm doing fine. So what's
the problem?"
The problem is that Internet marketing is a volatile business. By observing
both type of individuals all I can say is that in the next few years, the
blogger will still be blogging. But the blogs they write for will be owned by a
savvy Internet marketers.
It's just the way it works!
About the Author
Gobala Krishnan is a micro-niche specialist that coaches Internet marketers to
cash in on profitable markets using Wordpress and secret blogging tactics. Get
started now by reading a copy of his report "Wordpress Adsense System" at
http://adsense.easywordpress.com
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