Brad is a new internet marketer. He has always had a fascination for the internet, and now he's determined to make some money with it. Emails from internet gurus have stuffed his inbox, and he props his eyes open at midnight to keep reading of their mega-successes, their ultimate supertips, their fantastic, all-problem-solving new idea, software, or product. And Brad is sold. He's ready to make his internet fortune as well.
Two weeks later, Brad has a simple website up with text about a product for which he is now an affiliate. The website is free, so Brad's product name precedes the website identifier. Not too professional, but free nonetheless. The web page has a streamlined, clean look that Brad likes, and he's written pretty phrases about the features of his products. Brad's approach is to appeal to the logical reasons why a visitor should buy. He's read something about how people buy emotionally, but he'd rather lay out all the features and let the visitor make his own decision.
Three weeks later, Brad does some keyword research in the Google keyword tool. He decides to spend $.20 a click for the most obvious keyword in his category. Other marketers are spending $.32 a click for the same word, but hey, $.20 a click is what he can afford, so that's what he bids. He sets his daily spending amount at $15.
A month later, Brad spends three days submitting his site to directories. His eyes cross and his seat hurts, but he figures that this will pay off somehow. Some of the directories work by awarding credits. These credits promote one site by having the website owner visit others in the community. With a certain number of credits, a website will rotate through the visitors. Brad wonders what kind of daily time investment that will mean.
Six weeks later, Brad has spent too much money and not earned any. He purchases a guru's product on niche-finding for $67 and puts that into play. It is a good tool for identifying keywords, but Brad has to rewrite much of what is on his website to put the research to use.
Seven weeks later, he writes six articles and submits them to the two most popular ezines. Four are accepted and go live; two have minor problems and need to be corrected. Brad corrects his two articles, and four days later, they go live.
Eight weeks later, Brad starts a blog. He asks a provocative question, then points visitors to his site to get the answer.
Nine weeks later, Brad's blog still has no comments.
Ten weeks later, Brad still has no sales. In disgust, he deletes his site, terminates his Google AdWords account, and decides that internet marketing doesn't work. He's frustrated, angry and disappointed.
Who would you say killed Brad's internet dream?