Being a Part Time Marketer, I'm a bit obsessed with time.
I admit it.
It's one of those things that, by necessity I've become very good at — making the best use of my limited time to build my business.
It's also one of the things I teach others to do.
In fact, I get many people each week come to me and ask me how on Earth to build a business “on the side” — they think it can't be done.
It can, I assure you.
But I see things going on out there that are driving me a bit crazy. Mistakes that are so costly that I can almost guarantee you that these people will not succeed.
I try to be nice, because that's my nature, but…
I gotta let it out.
Really there are 3 huge mistakes that I see Part Time Marketers making… and they are so costly when it comes to their success. But most people don't know any better, I guess.
So I'm gonna clear the air.
Over the next few days I will be sharing with you my 3 biggest pet-peeves that are driving me crazy.
At the end of this series, you'll have a much changed picture of how you should be spending your limited time and resources.
Deal?
A Jack of All Trades or Just a Jackass?
Ok, now for my first pet peeve.
It's a mistake that I made and I see probably 99% of new and not-so-new marketers making — they are trying to be a Jack-of-all Trades.
How ridiculous is that?
I ask people who come to me…. “how are you spending your time.”
And I would say that 95% of them start listing all the various activities they're doing, the different marketing skills they are proudly learning, their time on social media “building relationships” (Sure!), and whatever else they believe is getting them closer to success.
Why, I ask… WHY?!!
Why would you think that becoming mediocre at many skills would make you more money?
You don't need to be a good article marketer, blogger, video marketer, banner advertiser, and direct sales marketer. That will get you nowhere.
What you NEED to do is to become an EXPERT ________________.
It doesn't matter as much what the skill is as long as you know more about it than the average marketer out there struggling to get leads for their business…. and then show them how it works for you.
Let me explain it another way
I am a health care professional by day. I work with doctors all day long.
So who do you think makes more money?
The family practitioner or the brain surgeon?
If you said the brain surgeon, you're right and the reason is because… he or she SPECIALIZED!
The brain surgeon has specialized skills that relatively few doctors have and it makes him much more in demand when someone needs brain surgery.
It's the same with marketing.
The person who specializes and becomes a leader/expert is the person who others will flock to.
So to the people who are spending their valuable time doing this and that, learning this skill and that skill, I beg you…. STOP IT!
Find a skill that resonates with you and do just that one skill.
- Learn it.
- Implement it.
- Test it.
- Make it work for you…. and then go teach others.
You'll make a lot more money and feel so much better about yourself than if you were hunting down a bunch of tired old leads that you purchased with your hard earned money.
It's one of the fastest shortcuts to success I can give you.
So there you go.
What do you think?
What's your opinion? Have a story to tell?
Share it below and join in the discussion.
23 replies to "A Jack-of-all Trades or Just a Jackass?"
Hi Bob,
Great title. lol
I think that there are so many misnomers out there. The fact remains that everyone out here in the online world is marketing something for sale. Everything is a limited time offer and we are constantly being sold on the fact that we must “act now” or the world is just going to pass us up.
It’s all such powerful copyrighting – it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that many people get tapped out and discombobulated trying to peek at it all while rapidly making no strides in any definitive direction.
At the end of the day, the basics are always true. The basics are not “sexy” – in fact most of them seem cliche or trite – but they’re only cliche because the truth is something we can not escape.
Stick to some basics til you get your juggle down. This is common sense here.
Way to dish the goods, Bob!
Cat
i’m neither jack nor jacksass 😡
Good for you!
Totally relate to this Bob, but here’s my perspective. From where I sit now, I totally agree with you and do actually outsource some of my work (not much ‘though – I guess I am a bit of a control freak!!) and try to specialize in two key areas.
The problem is usually from where you start with the whole online thing – i.e you know what you’re doing or you don’t. I had NO clue what on earth I was getting myself into and to be honest, if I had known, I don’t know that I would have traveled that road!
I came through the Mike Dillard school of thought and followed his traffic formula – the thing is – everything seemed to be linked – I couldn’t do one without the next, so I just had to keep going and learn it all.
This is why these days if someone is starting off – we look at their budget, then their time and then work out a marketing plan accordingly. Free and a bit slower, or fast and more expensive – then help them identify their strong points and work with their strong points and NOT on their weak points.
Great article Bob and really gave me food for thought!
Nicky
Hey Nicky,
I love the approach you have with your clients — individualized and focusing on strengths. That’s what everyone needs to do.
I agree re Dillards Traffic Formula — great content, but it gives the feel that you need to do a little of everything, since it seems so linked up. But in the end, it’s always best to focus on one and become really good at it. And like you said, it’s always best to play to your strengths!
Thanks for your insights, Nicky!
Bob,
Nice twist to an age old concept! Like most others I’ve been guilty of the same thing. My first 6 months online was a disaster as I was following a leader who was teaching something new every week. It wasn’t until someone asked my why was I jumping all over the place trying to learn it all at once?
I really thought that’s what the top marketers do….and they do but only when they are ready to move on. After banging my head against the wall for 6 months I learned to treat all this information like a buffet. Take what you want and come back for more later.
So here’ s my 2 cents for others. Find 1 or 2 marketing methods and get good at them. Good meaning you can gather leads constantly. Then figure out how to leverage it, automate it or outsource it. After that then you can pick up another marketing process. But here’s the kicker….some master marketers have only mastered a couple of processes.
So I KNOW there’s hope for the rest of us!
Ken Pickard
The Network Dad
Good advice, Ken. Some of the most successful marketers I know really only have mastered one or two marketing methods. But they are very good at those, collect leads and make sales on a regular basis and then outsource all the other stuff to make even more money.
That sounds good to me!
Hi Bob,
such an interesting post… I completely agree that we dont need to become mediocre at many skills so that we would make more money. this is so silly. its enough that one becomes an expert in only one skill and use it from there.
Focused learning, that’s where it’s at, Eleonara.
So let me turn the tables a bit and ask you …. have you chosen your one skill to master yet?
It is good to have a bit of knowledge of everything but I agree that each of us should have one skill that we can consider ourselves as experts. Only a few has the ability to learn from different fields and I don’t consider myself one of them. Focusing on a skill I want to enhance would make things less overwhelming. I appreciate the advice.
Its true, Maria.. it’s less overwhelming to think you only really need to master one skill to be successful. And if you can TEACH that skill to others, then you’ve opened up a while other source of revenue for your business.
Thanks for your comment!
Such a great and useful article! Thanks for sharing you inspiring thoughts, I totally agree with you. The age of the polyhistors is gone, today you have to be an expert of a special scene to reach your goals. A human lifetime isn’t enough to learn all the marketing skills, because it is a very complex science.
Very true, Cat… there isn’t enough time in the World to learn all there is to know about marketing.
I’m curious… how are you approaching this? Have you chosen or decided which marketing skill to master for your business?
I agree with Timo Kiander relating a Dan Kennedy saying, “Put Yourself in a category of one”, i.e You are the only one that…
I tell people that I am the only one that does all four industries: ecommerce, affiliate, network marketing, and information products. So, I can only say that I just do internet marketing, and just focus on SEO. But still keeps you busy.
btw, this blog is listed on http://www.mlmwall.com. Congrats! keep the fresh content coming.
Hey Brian, sounds like you are a very busy guy. Any one of those areas can keep you jumping, for sure. So thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to share your thoughts here!
Appreciate the kind words about our blog…. we will keep moving forward!
Oh boy Bob, I think we’ve all done this to be honest with you. Me included.
I mean we’re taught to put this up, sign up with these social media sites, learn how to do this skill and that one. So if you’re taught how to do them all, no wonder we’re all so confused and pulled in all different directions all the darn time.
Most people coming into this don’t yet know what they enjoy doing or would be good at which is why they have their hands in a little of everything. Testing the waters but getting disappointed when they don’t see results. They’re doing a little of everything instead of just one.
Hopefully this post will open some eyes so I’ll look forward to hearing what your other gripes are even though I can just imagine. 🙂
I guess there’s nothing wrong with dabbling in a few different marketing methods for a while until you decide what you like. I did that before I focused on blogging. But the key is to make it temporary and not get caught taking months or even years “trying to decide”. That is valuable time wasted.
Thanks for sharing your insights here, Adrienne. Always a pleasure to see your smiling face.
Bob,
This is also what Dan Kennedy has talked about.
When you are able to cut out all the extra stuff, you can really focus on the thing that matter the most. This in turn gives you the opportunity to become a recognized expert in your field.
Cheers,
Timo
When I hear Dan’s name my ears perk up because he is the man! I value his insights very much, so if he is in agreement with this post than I consider it a very successful one! 🙂
Seriously, being able to focus and cut out the fluff is something that we all learn but not fast enough. But its only when we do this that we can work towards expert status.
Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
HI Bob, definitely a good point. trying to be a jack of all trades makes you a master of none.
I like the sticktoitizm idea. You can always develop two or three strategies over time.
Loved the Dr. analogy.
best,
Jayne
Hey Jayne, great to see you here!
It’s one of the biggest mistakes I see. Believe me when I tell you I speak from experience.
Then the next question I get is, “Which one is best to learn?”
Well, sometimes we just need to think for ourselves and figure out what we like doing the best. It’s hard to be an expert in something you really don’t like doing, right?
So glad you stopped by today, Jayne. Hope everything is going well for you!
Thanks Bob… I think we’ve all been there. After all we start all sparkly eyed… and we want to learn everything NOW… so we jump in and try to do everything simultaneously. It’s bloody exhausting… and at the end of it, you’ve got nothing to show.
I think the only way to circumvent this syndrome is to breathe…. then try things one at a time for a reasonable amount of time. then try something else. Things work differently for different people so you have to find which one works for you.
So… moral of the story… most of us have been “Jack Asses’ at one time or another! 🙂
Hope your day is going well too Bob.
Best
Jayne
It’s nice to hear that most of us have been Jackasses at one time or another, Jayne… I would hate to think I was the only one!
In fact, almost everyone who has contacted me about this post has said something similar… we ALL go through these things, we all blaze our own path to either success or, unfortunately for many, giving up.
Congrats on being one of those who fought through the obstacles to come out successful on the other side, Jayne!