The magical money-making unicorn

Online marketing is not a magical unicorn

Lately, I’ve grown fond of saying that online marketing is not some magical, money-making unicorn.

Mostly because I keep talking to people who think it is.

As far as I can tell, they seem to believe that having a website means you get a golden ticket to ride the magical money-making unicorn.

And that “having a list” means your computer magically turns into an ATM machine that spits out hundred dollar bills.

As fun as that sounds…

I wonder if any of them ever had pets.

Because if they had, they would know that unicorns, like any other pet, require proper care and feeding. You have to clean up after them, too.

You don’t need to be an animal psychic to know that unicorns will only be happy if you take really good care of them. (And if you are an animal psychic, please take one of my classes – I’d love to help you write marketing that makes you more money!)

Let’s be clear: online marketing isn’t a magical money-making unicorn.

But your house mailing list can be, if you look after it, groom it, and feed it regularly.

Here are some ways to take care of your mailing list:

• Give a free gift to encourage people to subscribe. If you have an “opt-in” box on your homepage, be sure to share some great information, like a free report or audio. This is a great way for them to get to know you.
• Send a regular enewsletter. Despite the rumors, enewsletters are not dead. Far from it. When you send a newsletter every week or every 2 weeks, it doesn’t need to be fancy. It can just be a personal note and a feature article. You’ll grow it over time. The main thing is to give great ideas, and stay in touch with people who want to know more about your topic.
• Don’t write anything that bores YOU. In my production labs and intensives, I help clients come up with WHAT to write about. This is all about your message. And it HAS to be both useful and entertaining. If you find that YOU are getting bored when you write, stop. Give yourself permission to talk about what you already tell all your clients (a lot of times, when my clients and I are talking about this, it comes out as a confession: “What my clients REALLY are struggling with is…” or “What I tell all my clients on the first day is…”)
• Let them see you having fun. This was some of the best advice I ever got, when I was studying to become a classroom teacher. Fun is contagious. When other people see you enjoying what you are doing, they can’t stay away. A question I like here is: What would be fun for me to write?
• Give outrageous value. There is no getting around this one. You can know all the “read this email” tricks in the book, but if your content’s no good… doesn’t matter. Be a solver of problems. When your marketing less about YOU (and proving yourself)… and is focused on being of service to your audience, THAT is what gets people to open your emails, read ‘em, and eventually, buy from you.

When it comes to online marketing, I suggest you make lots of money the old-fashioned way: by building relationships. Your fabulous content, regularly shared with people who aren’t ready to hire you *just * yet, is the gold mine. It’s not 5 more clever internet strategies.

And a love note to introverts: Accept the fact that emails alone probably won’t build your business where you want it to be. You’re going to have to get out and meet people and pick up the phone. And if you aren’t sure what to say—great!—doing things that make you uncomfortable is a great way to grow your business, and your self in the process. Giddyup!

Last-minute lovers: Stella’s coming to NYC on May 18 to teach y’all how to market your service-based business in a way that’s fun, feisty, and wins you raving fans + high-caliber clients. To RSVP + for tickets: http://moneymakingmoustache.com/uncork-nyc/

Mighty thanks to scorpiorules58 flickr photostream for the unicorn