Is Internet Marketing a Business? Why or Why Not.
There's alot of confusion online about Internet marketing and how it plays into business. Some people think that the simple act of marketing online is a business. Some people think that Internet marketing is a complete hoax. In this post, I want to answer the commonly asked question, "Is Internet Marketing a Business?".
Spoiler alert: Both extremes are very wrong.
Internet Marketing is NOT a business and it's also NOT a hoax.
I know you're probably confused now. Let me explain...
Let's Lay a Little Short History Backdrop...
When the internet was incepted in the 1960s, it was originally created as an electronic database to enable government agencies and universities to share research across campuses. It was never intended to be used how it is today.
If it was used consistently as it was then, it may not have had many lucrative opportunities for the content creators. In fact, many businesses shut down their efforts because they were spending man hours, but not recouping their expenses.
The same thing happens today...people spend hours and hours marketing online and shut down because they can't recoup their expenses.
The Components of a Business
According to Michael Gerber in his book, The E-Myth, a business is a money making machine invented by an entrepreneur that operates whether he's present or not. Examples of businesses that fit into the definition of what Gerber spoke about are:
McDonalds (whose founder Ray Kroc is deceased)
Walmart (whose founder Sam Walton is deceased)
or even America (whose founders are long deceased)
The machines that McDonald's, Walmart, and America invented operate effectively even in the absence of the founding entrepreneurs. They're directed by intellectual property like laws, statutes, guidelines, and training manuals, and there's checks and balances placed by distributing authority throughout the companies. Therefore, regardless of whose in position, their directed by instructions rather than by a person. This is key.
In addition to Statutes as Leaders, there are 7 Key Systems
For a real business to thrive, there must be 7 standard systems. They are:
- The lead generation system - How You're Getting Traffic and Guaranteeing a Quantity of Regularity
- The lead conversion system - How You're Going to Convert the Traffic into Customers with sufficient conversion rates to profit
- The branding system - How other's will continually percieve the business in a growing positive light - AND - What intellectual property will you be consistently identified by that can separate your brand from generic ones.
- The management system - Tracking metrics, people, and performance to ensure everything is consistent with instructions
- The leadership system - Ensuring the business is fulfilling strategic vision, mission, purpose, and goals, and finding market opportunities for expanasion and growth.
- A Client Fulfillment System - A method for delivering quality products or services to customers.
- and, the Job Prototypes - Defining what each hired person will be required to do and what standard measures their performance.
With all of this explained, you should be starting to see why Internet Marketing is not a business, and instead, it's a component of a business.
What Internet Marketing Is
Internet marketing is a component of marketing strategy, and a component of a lead generation, lead conversion, and possibly even a branding system. Some businesses simply use the internet to drive leads to offline products or services, and others perform the entire lead generation and conversion methods online. To each is their own.
Some businesses have built their branding entirely online, and others have an online and offline presence--these are preferences.
You want to see internet marketing for what it is. It's a marketing strategy; not a business in and of itself.
Interneting Marketing Strategy vs. Others
Other alternatives to internet marketing include:
- Cold calling
- Door-to-door
- Vendor events
- House parties
- Traditional media
- Mail Ads
- Billboards
- and the list can go on...
There are many methods for gaining reach, the exposure, and attention of other people, but at this point in history, the internet stands as the most sought after and potentially most effective form of gaining reach, exposure, and leads.
Online vs. Offline Networking
Think about it, if you were to network offline...let's say, at the local fitness center...
You'd have to physically walk over to a person, introduce yourself, and spark conversation. Whereas online, you can make contact with tens of thousands (or even millions) of people in the same amount of time. As a business owner who has products or services, the internet is an excellent tool to leverage, but it's only a tool to leverage.
Some Common Mistakes of Online Entrepreneurs
The shallow mistake of many online entrepreneurs is:
1. They're focusing too much on the lead generation system and driving the leads
They're missing other systems (maybe even all of them). The lead generation system is an important component, but the rest are equally as valuable to a successful business., and the key ingredients that make it scalable.
2. They Believe the Machine and Systems are a Cause for Poor Work Ethic
Another HUGE mistake is made because there's a delusion surrounding the "four hour work week" and the idea that you can work a little and gain alot. Part of the delusion is because people see entrepreneurs with the "machine mentality" rather than solopreneurs or self-employed entrepreneurs and they misunderstand how that correlates with growth stage.
People like Robert Kiyosaki are trying to encourage the "machine mentality" but their way of communicating it may have been confusing and gotten blurred. Maybe they meant to address a more established entrepreneur rather than startups? I don't know.
Businesses have growth phases similar to children: infancy, toddler, adolescent, early adult, and so on. Most businesses have different terminology for it's application to business, but you get it, right?
3. THE BIG KICKER MISTAKE: They're treating an infant business like a teenager business.
If you implement systems, you still have to tweak, test, nurture, and groom them into solidity which takes time. Startup entrepreneurs should expect to be working on the business like a new mom or dad whose raising a baby.
They may need to do morning, nights, naps, and all kinds of shifts to get the baby walking. In business context, you may need to do lots of tweaking, testing, and creating before the business can stand on it's own and you're not having to invest SO much, but once it's standing, there's different challenges and excitement.
Without all 7 systems, the business may become person reliant and turns into a job rather than a money making machine.
Final Words answering "Is Internet Marketing a Business?"
Hopefully you get the picture of how internet marketing is a component rather than a whole. It's important to balance out the development of the 7 systems rather than to see lead generation or lead conversion as "The Business".
Now, It's Your Turn...
Do you think Internet Marketing is a Business? What are your reasons? Do you have all 7 systems in your business? Why or why not?
Recent Comments
8
I enjoyed reading through your outlook. As to whether it is a business or not, it would depend on what you are doing. If you are doing mainly affiliate marketing then I would say no it is not a business.
For me to qualify as a business I would have to own the end product or service. As an affiliate marketer, you are merely a sales person.
Derek
In cohesion with the definition I've included, affiliate marketing can be a component of a business. The referral portion would be the client fulfillment system. The service being offered to the client is referrals. There are major businesses that thrive off of this model.
I understand what you mean how it looks like a salesperson in the beginning, but once you've started to scale it by adding in more job prototypes, then it turns more into a referral network.
What a very interesting take and outlook on this subject.
I'd say that Internet Marketing is not a business as such, but a media for marketing your own business through the internet
Enjoyed reading this though
Thanks for sharing Tiffany : )
I agree with you Dave. I've seen the damage that it causes when it's seen as the business tho. It creates a shallow perspective of what needs to be done and most of the time, it creates a job: leadership and delegation may be missing, management and tracking may be missing, a focused effort on conversion may be missing, branding may be all over the place, and job prototypes aren't there so people may collide or hiring may never get done and a bottleneck can be created. It's important to have all 7.
Thanks for stopping by and starting up the convo!
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You cover the waterfront in many good ways here Tiffany. Insightful writing. Copywriting excellence!
Thanks so much! I appreciate your kinds words.