Internet Marketing: The Bottomless Hole

I live in Florida, and one of the most popular anecdotes about owning a boat is that it's like a hole in the water where you just throw your money.

If you've ever looked up from your Facebook session and discovered that an hour (or two or three) has disappeared, then you can appreciate this:


Marketing your business on the Internet is a Black Hole for both your time and your effort. I've long maintained that most people do not really believe and/or understand that.

A recent article, titled Tech Q&A: Getting to the Top of Search Results, is only one paragraph long, but I found the next to last sentence reinforced my perspective: "The most important thing these days is to stay active; the internet is an ever-changing landscape, and you have to work to keep up."

Then, at the end of that Tech Q&A article, there is a link to a more detailed article titled "10 secrets to reach the top of the search results." It lists these tasks:

1. Get social, already!
2. Be an Authority
3. Branding, Branding, Branding
4. Make your site user-friendly
5. Write enough content
6. Do your keyword research
7. Build a digital footprint
8. Have an actual marketing plan
9. Structure your site properly
10. Make use of SEO plug-ins

Any of the tasks on that list would take several hours a week for the rest of my professional career. For example, "get social" involves reading and responding to posts on Facebook, Linkedin, Yelp, etc.

The take-away that I hope you find is this:
 If you going to do it, commit to do it with enthusiasm but be aware of the time you will spend doing it.  Budget your time with alarm clocks or timers, and respect the bell! When it goes off, quit and schedule your next session. You'll worker smarter or harder when you know you have a deadline.