Using A Marketing System Versus Taking Action

We'd all love to have an automated sales funnel that would deliver money to our doors without our needing to do so much as lift a finger. And there are an awful lot of programs out there promising just that. They claim that they can completely automate your sales chain using websites, autoresponders, videos and other tools. They say that presenting yourself as the expert in your field creates a system of attraction marketing that automatically brings in people who want to buy! But how likely is that, really?

If there were such a thing as a truly automated sales method, don't you think that major retailers would be using it right now? Why bother building a retail store and putting out lots of advertising, when you could just press "on" and have customers (and their cash) delivered right to you? If the big chains don't have the secret, and if the heads of major companies aren't using it, why would it would it work for the average person who doesn't have a lot of business experience? The real secret is that it just doesn't. You can't completely automate a business. There's no way to make money come to you, without putting in any work at all.

Does that mean that some of these automation tools can't help? Not at all - anyone who wants to sell a product or service has to have a good website that's easy for both visitors and search engines to understand. Blogs, social marketing, videos and other Web 2.0 methodology can allow you to reach groups that regular marketing methods wouldn't even touch. And autoresponders can be a great tool to help you send out important information to people who've volunteered to listen to what you have to say. They handle everything from getting the word out about sales to distributing newsletters. What they don't do is keep you from having to put some work into your business.

Marketing is and always will be work. If you don't know what you're doing and how to do it efficiently, it can even end up being a lot of work without many results. That's why it's so tempting to ask a program or script to do it all for you. But relying too heavily on these tools can actually waste more time than doing your marketing incorrectly. After all, if you make a mistake, you waste time and often money, but you learn from it. If you rely on your automation tools, you don't even learn that. It's better to do it right the first time, of course, but don't assume a simple script knows more than you do.

It's not fun to hear, but it's true. Marketing is something you have to work on every single day. You don't have to put a lot of time in, and you certainly don't need to wear yourself out over. A lot of the effort that goes into it is simply maintenance - helping to get the word out about what you have to offer, and making sure that you reach your target audience. That means being an active participant, no matter which way you decide to do your marketing.

If you're using articles, you need to think carefully about the content you're associating yourself with (both in the eyes of the search engines and potential customers) and avoid publishing gibberish or duplicates. If you use a blog, you need to make sure it's something that others will want to read, and you need to update it regularly and personally. The same goes for marketing on Facebook, using Twitter, and just about every other method out there. If you don't do the work, you just won't get the profit. It's that simple. If someone promises you an option that sounds easier, there's a pretty good chance it's too good to be true. Get them to explain, in detail, how their method works, and make them back it up with verifiable facts and figures. If they won't, it's probably because they don't have them!

Marketing systems all sound great. After all, everyone wants to believe that they can buy the answer to a stable income pre-packaged for them. We all want to sit at home and let the money pour in, while we work on things we find more interesting. But the fact of the matter is that there's no such thing as a foolproof automated marketing system. Whether it's an article generator, an autoresponder system, or any other tool, it won't do the work itself. Just like a power tool, it needs the guidance of a real human being with a plan.

There's no such thing as a brainless business. That simple fact means that if you want to take advantage of all the profit generating opportunities out there, you've got to try another strategy. Pay attention to your marketing, generate a solid plan, and put in a little bit of effort every day. Taking action gives you the ability to control your business and steer it into real profits, not empty promises. Don't let the automated systems drive you to ruin - be a smart business owner and take action.