A huge number of people offer advice on online marketing. Newsletters fall into inboxes like confetti. There are variations, but the message is generally the same: I (whoever is sending you the email) have worked with more companies than you can shake a stick at and transformed both their understanding of online marketing and its effectiveness for them to such an extent that they fall at my feet when I enter the room. The growth of their business has been such that it won’t be long before they are selling to every single person in the world. And I can do the same for you! All you have to do is sign up to my program and send me your dollars and I will make them multiply faster than rabbits in a burrow.

When you go to their website there will be testimonials from companies who, since taking up with the sender of the email, have seen their market dominance rise to such an extent that it’s amazing that you never heard of most of them.

Some practitioners of this art email you every day. Sometimes even more than once a day. And each time with a new variation and a promise to introduce you to the latest great new thing (which is not the same as yesterday’s great new thing and nor is it anything like what tomorrow’s great new thing will be).

Does any of this work? Is anyone making money out of the techniques and variations you’re being offered?

Well, yes. The people sending out the emails are doing okay; otherwise they wouldn’t keep sending them out. And their clients? Well… Maybe.

The difficulty is that no one really knows what works. And the sad fact is that what worked last month may not be doing too well today and almost certainly won’t still be producing results in a month’s time. Except…

There’s no substitute for quality; and by quality we really mean the quality of your writing, the quality of your images, the quality of your videos – and the quality of the product or service you offer. A website and a social media program that bring all of those things together will (over time and with hard work) put your business in a better position than it was in when you started.

We’re sorry, because we know that there’s something terribly seductive about the idea that you can pick up some guru’s universal cure-all and have the bank president bend the knee when you walk past. Really, though, the only thing that will achieve that is dedication, a good product and a lot of hard work.

But, deep down in your heart of hearts, you already knew that. Didn’t you?

Of course, you could take the gurus’ advice and plow those furrows yourself. But advice follows advice so quickly that it ends up being very confusing. And let’s keep in mind that while you’re following this advice and trying to give your marketing efforts legs to stand on, you’re also running a business.  At the end of the day, whether you like it or not, at some point or another, something more pressing WILL come up and then, however determined you are to not forget about marketing, it will have to take backseat to whatever fire you’re trying to put out, which means it will ultimately fall by the wayside.

Or you could let us work with you. We aren’t committed to producing new ideas every day. Or even every month. What we are committed to is working with our clients to establish a strategy that, with hard work and a maintained focus, will pay off. We don’t offer you instant gratification or overnight success; we do say that your commitment and our hard work will produce results.

If that sounds a more reliable approach than some you’ve heard, get in touch. Let’s see what we can do together.