Diary of an Affiliate Marketer
People always ask you how you make money online and to be honest when I was asked today I found it a very difficult question to answer. Not because it’s difficult to make money, it’s just that there are so many ways to make money that I didn’t know where to start.
The other thing that happened when I started to explain was that I was losing my audience, some really good friends of mine, because they didn’t understand the jargon and I thought I was talking quite simply and plainly but was told by my friend “you’ve lost me already, what the hell is blogging”?
Whilst that may seem unbelievable to you and mean it made me realize that I had broken the cardinal rule of communication, speaking to your audience at their level.
When I was first trying to find out how to make money online I remember reading an article where the author said that to communicate correctly on the internet you had to assume your visitor was approximately 13 years of age. This way you prevent yourself from using jargon when you’re communicating and you keep your message clear.
It occurred to me that I was probably doing the same when I was writing my diary each day. Over the years as I have continued to make money online as my technical skills and knowledge grew but nothing is more critical on the internet than communication.
During my daily ramblings I have mentioned top people like Ken McCarthy, Perry Marshall, James Martell and others and assumed you would understand how important these people are to your success. That is because I have been building my business online for some years and have got used to the jargon and the top names.
My assumption that everyone gets this is wrong. Some people who follow this diary will not know that these are some of the top people in the industry.
The top marketers get this and have honed the skill of communication. By communication skills I don’t mean they can write like top journalists or authors of books, or write a screen play for their next YouTube video.
The skill these top marketers have honed, the skill that allows them to make money online, is the skill to communicate to their audience, in their own unique voice, being themselves and ensuring they talk to the audience at the level that is required.
I had been conscious of this skill when I first started out but have let it slip.
Can you imagine standing next to the surgeon and his team in the operating theatre and trying to understand their jargon as they go about their daily business in their working environment. This is something you have to think about as you go through yours.
If you are planning to make money online selling to people in your business then using the technical jargon and terminology is probably appropriate. However, if you are planning to communicate to a more general audience you need to get your words and language to their level.
The first step for anyone planning to make money online is to ensure their target market understands them and the message they are trying to communicate.
After my conversation with friends today I realized I had wandered away from what I knew to be right and have put it down in my notes to review how I am communicating to my target audience.
I suggest you do the same.
