A Good Online Marketer is Always a Student

How much time do you spend surfing the web? Okay, so maybe that's an unfair question. You probably spend a lot of time working to market your online business. The common theme of most web use is unifocused. You approach the time you spend online as something done to promote a goal and vision. The problem is the end result of your work may have diminishing returns.

If you have worked to provide some creativity to your site design and marketing strategies you can bet someone has been paying attention. It is possible others who see the wisdom in your approach are imitating some of your core concepts.

One thing I encourage you to try is to spend some of your online time researching other successful sites. Ask yourself what it is that makes these sites work well. Try to find areas you perceive as weak and then pinpoint why something doesn't seem to work from your perspective.

Pay attention to the site's ease of use. How many clicks does it take to get to important site destinations? Does the site seem cluttered or does it have a sense of balance? How easy is it to understand the function and use of the site? Are there tools available to help you understand the website better?

Don't be afraid to look for general themes and marketing strategies that may be useful to you in the ongoing development of your website.

The most successful website owners spend time learning from other websites. It's not just a matter of doing what you think needs to be done. It involves a willingness to be a student of your craft. It means being observant and analytical. It means taking a useful general concept and making it work for your application.

Your online time is important, but your ability to become a student of your craft can make a huge difference in the overall tone, structure and application of your website and associated marketing strategies.

In the corporate world business owners will send their staff to observe other non-competing businesses to learn what they can about the success they find and how to conform some of those strategies to a new application in a different type of business

This concept allows one business to reimagine their business in light of a revised battle plan. Think of it like getting expert parenting advice. You implement those things that work well, discard the things that absolutely don't work for your situation, and you adapt other concepts that might work.

An underlying truth of marketing is you need to part expert and part student. The combination of the two allows you to consistently build on a strong foundation of knowledge. Think of it like building blocks that continue to make a more impressive and elaborate design.

This concept encourages you to leave complacency behind while being consistently aware that fine-tuning will be required. It's the feeling that you should never settle for good enough. You will want to be better and then improve your improvements.