Not sure if you read my last Blog Post about the joys of being away from home or not, but just had an interesting twist to the fact that I am not at home, and thought I would visit the local hotel for a couple of quiet afternoon beers. Whilst there, I met a couple of nice blokes who wanted to share their thoughts on the current NZ v Australia cricket test that was being played live on TV, tell me what they did for a living, and generally being friendly to the holiday-maker in their home town.
I also noticed they all seemed to be having the odd wager on the horse and greyhound racing that was also being broadcast live, so being someone who likes the odd dabble on the races, decided to have a go myself. Now I don’t follow the horses or greyhounds in any shape of fashion, I just had a couple of bets on whatever the commentators thought would be a good bet, and has some success, but more losses than wins!!
When I got back to my caravan I thought to myself, ‘what is the difference between taking a punt on the horses and taking a punt on advertising my internet marketing web sites’? Both are ‘risk and reward’, generally we are spending money on the blind, and of course hope for a favourable result. But whose favour are the odds weighed in?
At the end of the day, gambling is gambling, and there are so many factors to take into consideration before placing a wager, many of which are far out of our control. But advertising and promoting our online interests is a little different. Sure, it is a gamble whether anyone will read our adverts, or even click on a link, let alone purchase something from that link. But as Internet or Affiliate Marketers, we can stack the odds in our favour
We can research our markets, study trends, follow proven sales or marketing methods, and invest our money accordingly. We are in far more control than a trainer and a jockey who decide when they want to win and when they don’t. Think about that for a moment! The racing industry is known to be full of tactics, some good and some not so good. For example, have you ever heard that greyhound trainers sometimes fill their dogs up with so much water and food before a race ‘they don’t want to win’, the poor dog never stands a chance. Why do they do that? Because the next time they race the odds increase due to their poor last performance, but this time they are ready. They don’t feed their dogs up next time, and this makes the dogs want to catch the ‘bunny’ so much more, because they are hungry.
Get the picture? The odds in any form of racing are stacked against you, due to all the ‘outside’ influences that you don’t see or know about. But the Internet Marketing arena is a totally different ball game. You can research your markets, learn (admittedly over time) which are the best paid advertisers to use, document your success (and failures), and learn from those results. This puts the odds firmly back in your favour, you can invest your money a lot more confidently, and I am sure you will receive a much more higher return on investment (ROI).
So the gist of my post today? I should have stayed in the caravan and invested my money promoting my web sites, than wasting it on a few horses and greyhounds that I had absolutely no information about!!
But hey, I am on a short holiday break, so why not!! On a luckier day, I might have one big!!
Which is what we all hope for with our internet and affiliate marketing efforts.
Take care. Until my next post….
Brian Rooney,
Succeed With Brian
Succeed With Brian 