Source: October 6, 2013 By David Boozer – http://davidboozer.com/accidental-entrepreneur-tale-three-platforms/
I was an accidental entrepreneur and, maybe, so are you. All it took was a little know-how and the willingness to be a goof and, let people know about it.
In this post, I wanted to let you know a little bit more about myself and, what I do. This way, in the end, you will at least have a chance of following your entrepreneurial dreams too.
I am not cocky or stuck up, I am not a guru or “success” coach… I am simply someone who went out, learned and applied a new “trade” if you will. That was all, I simply learned how to work with a few platforms online and went for it.
I think what it comes down too was the fact that I am an entrepreneur and, am blessed enough to live in a country that still praises this free way of living my life.
Of course there are those who wish to squash our dreams and bring us into some “Borg” style collective of liberal thought, but thanks to the Second Amendment, that will be dashed (LOL!).
The Dreamers And Me…
I am a pretty big dreamer. I dreamed of creating the kind of existence online and, from home, that was not a millionaire lifestyle, but more of a life that was free to unplug and spend time doing other things when desired.
It worked.
Of course there were 3 platforms that truly helped me accomplish this and, if you think about it, it is all you really need to build a successful business presence online. Here they are:
- Blog/Website
- Social Media/Video
- Email Marketing
Those are the three fundamental platforms that work, and work very, very well. Let’s take a look at these a little closer and my own story of why I used them, and how.
1. Blog And Website.
When I first got online I was only here to get some FREE TRAFFIC for the insurance career I already had for nearly 10 years. Creating a website and blogging seemed tedious and time consuming to say the least.
I did not want to do that, so I didn’t. Eventually however, I started writing shorter articles and video at first, which, in the end, back then worked out fine.
To practice with, I started promoting the affiliate program that came with the training system I purchased, that worked very well too. So well in fact, that 110 days after starting online I quit my career and focused my efforts there.
Life went well until people and search engines wanted more from you and me. What they wanted was content, and more of it.
This is when I decided to move to blogging and having an actual presence online that was more than just some landing page trying to sell you something.
Here I learned what I was truly missing, a brand, and not just any brand, but a trusted brand. I started creating answers to the questions about search marketing that many in my earlier position were looking for:
- How do I get traffic?
- How do I blog?
- Why do I need a blog?
- What is keyword research?
My blog allowed me to not only create these valuable answers for people, but it allowed for a single presence online from which I could connect a multitude of presences online, from video platforms to social media.
From there on out with my blog, I fell in love with content marketing…
2. Social Media And Video?
Social media is not just reliant on Facebook and Twitter, social media marketing includes the largest of all of them, VIDEO.
There are more people spending more time on Youtube than Facebook by a long shot. And, just so you know, the largest social media platform is blogging, just so you know.
Sharing content and building a community is where the average marketer’s online focus should be.
What I have learned over the last 5 years online, is the fact that quality content answers the “traffic generation” question through social media.
Yes, I can buy traffic there. Yes, I could even convert some of that paid for traffic, but social media in reality returns the smallest conversion rate of all the platforms out here. Just a fact you can Google.
I enjoy sharing content however and, most importantly, sharing others content and links as well. I love to build communities of like minded individuals which is what the goal should be for social media anyways.
My personal goal with Facebook and the “like,” is to build my presence and brand, and if that requires helping you do the same, well, that is what it is, one person helping another.
Video however, well, that is a whole other story. This is the perfect platform and tool to truly CONVERT your traffic into subscribers and, customers.
3. Email Marketing
As for many companies and you and I, email is where 86% of your income will actually be made. When the GURU screams “it’s all in the list,” this was the only part they got right. Where they failed was to teach you how to truly build it.
Email campaigns are truly important, as important as building them in the first place.
They are also extremely aggravating sometimes. There are people like myself who send out one email to you each week teaching you something, yet, we still get the occasional un-subscriber who says too much spam…
While I am not even close to a spammer, we do need to watch out how much and how often we “bury” our list in messages, promotions and long sales page diatribes. “Bury” your list in “buy my stuff now before it closes” stuff can hurt your overall brand and message.
Keep it simple, and use a lot of video. These two simple strategies really set a good pace for myself and others with our conversion rates and, time on site for that matter. We use our blogs and static pages for the most part.
Three Platforms, It Was An Accident…
I came to the internet for a whole other reason, to learn to generate free traffic to the business I was a part of. Today, I am a part of helping others build their own here, that was the accidental part.
However, in the end, it was these three platforms that changed my life, these three simple to use strategies set me free to work at home, and those I have taught as well.
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