Every successful entrepreneur understands the value of savvy marketing. Regardless of how they began, what products they promote or where they operate, millionaires around the world have one very important personality trait in common: they know how to market themselves. The word “marketing” can be overwhelming to many new business owners who mistakenly believe that years of sales experience are necessary to effectively market a new product or service. The good news is that the art of marketing can be learned – even if you’ve never held a position in sales before.
“The difference between sales and marketing is that sales is one-on-one; marketing is one-on-many,” says Matt Bacak, a successful Internet entrepreneur. “You can change a lot of lives through marketing, including your own. But you must be actively seeking marketing education and marketing opportunities for yourself and your business.”
Bacak cites two case studies – Internet entrepreneurs he has dubbed “accidental millionaires – as classic examples of marketing gone right. Armin Morin made more than a million dollars in only three months by selling an Internet tool bar that offered shortcuts to some of his favorite sites. “He wasn’t selling anything all that original or hard-to-find,” says Bacak. “But he understood how to package it, how to market it, and how to show prospective clients exactly why it was such a great product. That’s why he was successful.”
Another example is Morgan Westerman, who took a public domain poem called Interviews with God and developed a fun flash movie to accompany it. In six months he’d made one million dollars. “There is so much opportunity out there,” says Bacak.
He suggests surrounding yourself with others who have experience marketing themselves and products. “Never assume you know everything,” he says. “Go to seminars, read books, talk to your peers. Others have a lot to teach you.”
The role of marketing is to reach a large audience of potential customers who can not only benefit from your product or service but will find it enjoyable, useful and of high-quality. “The Internet has created many accidental millionaires,” says Bacak. “But they’re all true marketers. There’s nothing accidental about that.”