Hello friends!
I can see you feeling sorry for yourself about not paying attention when Deepak Kanagaraju was offering free Digital marketing course way back in 2017.
You are kicking yourself for not progressing beyond the first lesson then. A lot of us purchased a lot of courses on SEO, FB ads, Zapier tool, and Content Marketing, etc but never bothered to complete the courses.
Today, we are cooped up in our homes, working from home like slaves. Afraid that if we don't follow orders we'll lose our jobs.
Then there are those who are paid half salary and some have even been laid off, all thanks to the dirty demon we seem to have imported from China.
Anyway, there is a silver lining. I am in the midst of an internship program the likes of which you would never have seen in the pre-Covid-19 days.
I can hear you saying "Cut the F-*%$#@crap and share the link" but sorry guys, to get the link you'd have to read my authoritative article on the Law of marketing(Are you there?) and...post your valuable comments and feedback in the comment section. That's the deal, then. Just kidding! So, here I go.
Digital marketing may seem intimidating to newbies but if we remove the digital part and focus on the marketing part, it suddenly becomes so familiar.
The focus is on understanding marketing, learning marketing, and implementing what you learn by using your marketing online via the digital medium.
There is a sudden urge amongst people to learn digital marketing and earn money by blogging, affiliate marketing, and freelancing, etc. to compensate for the sudden loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has enveloped the entire world.
People who are forced to stay indoors are looking for a way to self-help themselves to make money working from home.
You may be a student, homemaker, working professional working at a reduced salary, a retiree who needs to augment his income, a jobless fresh graduate, or a working professional who has been laid off.
Lemme warn you, success is not going to happen overnight, you know that, don’t you? You’re being bombarded with information on the internet about how to earn a handsome income by doing this, that, and everything else in between.
Can get quite confusing and overwhelming, I know.
The digital process is dynamic in the sense that it is changing and evolving all the time but to learn, adapt and evolve accordingly, you have to focus on marketing first, focus on learning the basics and fundamentals of marketing. You may ask why?
Simple. It is like learning how to handle a bicycle first before moving on to motorbikes, and then cars on the fast lane.
While mounting a bicycle and learning to balance yourself you may fall off a few times, suffer a few bruises but these minor setbacks will only make you determined to learn cycling.
Once you’ve learned cycling, you develop the confidence to move on to a motorcycle.
Your desire to move faster and achieve more will make it easier to learn how to change gears, move at high speeds, negotiate traffic, follow the traffic rules, and adhere to safety precautions and road-safety rules in order to prevent injuries.
Next, you will effortlessly graduate to multiple modes of transport like cars for instance, where you may not need to know how to balance yourself but the experience of riding a motorcycle will help you move easily and weave in and out of traffic at a good speed.
This will ease the pressure and help you learn the basics and implement what you’ve learned. In doing so, you’ll make mistakes and be awkward but that is what happens to those who take action.
The mistakes and awkwardness will disappear as you start grasping the basics and fundamentals of marketing by implementing what you have learned.
Since we are talking about focusing on the task at hand, you need to go back to your basic tools of writing on notebooks using a free-flowing ball-pen. Make notes and write down any bright ideas that may pop up from time to time. Most of you know that writing is fundamental to learning and why not apply this skill to learning marketing online?
I can hear you saying " Why the dramatic build-up?"
You have to be patient and not think of making 75000 next month itself.
Learn first, implement next. Once the awkwardness is reduced, start working and then the world of freelancing, consultation, mentoring, and digital agency opens its door for you. Trust me.
Why are we learning marketing? To make money, to earn a handsome income, to become self-sufficient financially, to work for yourself alone, or to become financially independent in the long run, right?
Let’s take up a goal, shall we?
How does this sound?
To earn 1 crore in 1 year. Sounds incredible, isn’t it?.
I can hear you saying “I am struggling to earn 25k to 50k a month and this guy is suggesting 1 crore in a year… that is more than 8 lakhs a month. Impossible man, you go fly a kite man…”
Wait, just hear me out.
Google created a search engine and offered it to everyone for free to search. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are free to join and there are so many apps like Uber, Ola, Wim Hof Method, banking apps, etc.
All of them are free to use. Are these successful profit-making entities or not?
The search words used by the millions and billions of users have given rise to sunrise industries like SEO, Keyword optimization, targeted marketing, Google ads, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, Instagram ads, online advertisements, etc.
With 97% of the SE market share, Google has triumphed by offering search engine services for free.
The search engine market is seeing some revolutionary evolution as traditional marketing is rapidly being replaced in most areas by digital marketing which is cheaper, personalized, specifically targeted at customers, giving a much higher return on investment and drastically cutting down on the marketing budget, particularly advertising.
How about making 1 crore in the next 2-3 years?
Before agreeing, let’s break up the goal in smaller steps
First, you sell a product priced at Rs100/- to 1 lakh customers or
Sell a product priced at Rs 1000 to 10,000 customers or
Sell a product priced at Rs 10,000 to 1000 customers or
Sell a product priced at Rs 100,000 to 100 customers
Now, I can hear you saying, “But where are the customers, I don’t even have one...”
Not to worry. Let’s say we promote products that are free. Like a free digital marketing course. Now, do you think people will be interested?
There are quite a few quality vendors who offer free products
So, time to take action, right?
You have selected a niche- Digital marketing
You can further narrow it down to- How to learn digital marketing for free?
Now you purchase a domain and hosting and put out your blog website out there on the internet and start promoting the free digital marketing course.
Write a blog post that will highlight the features of the course and also include testimonials of those who have learned and are successfully earning a handsome income.
Chances are your viewership will go up as more people visit your website and sign up by sharing their name, e-mail id, telephone numbers. So, your e-mail list starts growing and people join up and proceed to learn.
You can put affiliate links of vendors who sell domains and hosting services, blogging courses, affiliate marketing courses, SEO, and anything related to digital marketing.
As an affiliate, you will make money when visitors click on the links and purchase products and services.
All you need to do is to write about these products, highlighting the benefits, features and also compare it with other vendors who are selling the same product under their own brands.
You are actually helping people solve their financial problems by offering a viable solution. The more value you provide more people will look up to you and trust you when you suggest, recommend and promote affiliate products and services.
When you write consistently and regularly, you will taste success as a blogger, and as a freelancer, you can promote and sell products and services of other people/ vendors, Ok so far?
Now the financial goal of 1 crore will seem viable. Remember to always start with a goal in mind. Write it down and look at it daily. You will stay focused and travel in the right direction.
Stick to your micro-niche for the long term and you will go far. You can add more niches as you go along and also be ready to teach and mentor and create your own products
Fundamentals of marketing- DigitalDeepak, an authority on digital marketing says that marketing is a science.
Drawing from his own experience he explains that his decade long online experience in digital marketing helped him understand the needs of his customers to come up with a product that fulfills their immediate requirements.
When you understand the needs of your customer you can improve the quality of your product or service and make it affordable for the customer.
His decade long experience in the digital marketing field taught him the growing importance of digital marketing.
He got busy creating suitable products and improving the quality of his older products.
He started communicating more often with his customers on his mail list. His communication has changed drastically in that he converses with you, talks with you when you read his emails.
His communication increased on social media as his brand became known to more people who are watching the growth of digital marketing in India.
From a successful seller of high-quality products, he was busy transforming himself as a mentor and teacher.
That is when Corona struck. Most digital marketers sensed the opportunity and increased their prices. Not our man. He thinks differently and acts differently.
This can’t be better illustrated than his own example.
DigitalDeepak came up with his revolutionary cashback digital marketing internship program. He was prepared to experiment and grow
In this, the intern pays a security deposit upfront and is assured of entire cashback + bonuses and incentives if he successfully submits weekly assignments on time.
So, this is a product that is a result of his past experiences as a seller who wants to provide value and over-deliver on his commitment.
His 3 batches have seen him add more information and new learnings for his rapidly growing community of digital marketers.
His constant endeavor to improve his product is only adding value to his brand image. All his previous batch interns are provided access to the ongoing internship.
This effort changed his earlier perception. If he was perceived as a seller in the past, now he is seen as a mentor and coach
The idea has caught on like fire as DigitalDeepak's latest batch 4 has a strength of over 1000 interns learning digital marketing from him.
Most of these newbies have joined via word of mouth recommendation from people known to them. The marketing has become superfluous for DigitalDeepak as his events are oversubscribed and his recent webinars attendance has seen 3000 or more attendees for 90 min webinars and every time he exceeds the 90 min happily.
Two of his first batch interns are employed by him and are assisting him by being efficient support staff who help him by providing solid support to the interns.
According to DigitalDeepak, marketing does not stop after the sale of a product or service.
He believes in remaining in constant touch with his student community by selling them more advanced information products to sell it to them and to help them become experts like him.
Actually, he uses his marketing to build a mass trust with his enormously growing community.
DigitalDeepak believes that in the future he will be well established as a digital marketing trainer.
The growth of his personal brand will ensure that he no longer has to market his product as it will continue to sell on the word of mouth recommendation and endorsement from his interns who complete the internship and go on to become successful digital marketers.
Marketing should never become bigger than the product. There has to be a constant effort to improve the product or else the product itself will stagnate and stop selling, no matter what the marketing effort is. The brand image is as good as the product.
Advertisement, Copywriting, and Sales are components of marketing. Having a great product is very important but good marketing will lead people to the product and build up a positive perception about the product and the brand.
Why should you invest time, energy, and money in learning marketing?
Any product that needs to be sold has to be sold through marketing channels.
Awareness about the product has to be created.
The target group has to be identified and targeted
An effective advertisement campaign has to be launched
The sales team has to make a sales pitch
The sale has to be closed
The after-sales support team has to do an orientation program to familiarize the product to the client
Feedback from customers has to be sought and criticism has to be addressed and resolved
The R&D has to examine the feedback and make improvements in the subsequent versions.
Communication skills- As a marketer, you need to effectively transfer your thoughts to the reader/ listener.
Don’t be too conscious of your grammar and vocabulary.
Your concern should be ‘Am I able to make him understand me?’, ‘Am I addressing his needs and concerns?’
Write like you are conversing with a friend whom you are trying to help. This is a very different approach to writing effectively.
If you want to see success as a marketer, write as if you are talking to them.
When you send a mail to a prospect you’ll do well to join in on a conversation that is happening within her mind.
That is much better than initiating a topic that may not resonate with what is going on in her mind.
To join a conversation you need to be able to put yourself in her place and think.
That is why you are made to fill a few questionnaires by marketers who are collecting information so that they can design a communication most suited to you.
The wiser ones ask you a question on the subject line which is actually the marketer’s way of joining in on a mental conversation that is going on in your brain.
When you write like you talk, you will write more and that slows down your thoughts and you learn to focus much better.
This is actually easier than being precise and to the point.
The emphasis on sounding like a native speaker is lifting as the need for inclusiveness grows and effective communication becomes more important than proper English
All that brouhaha over the 15-second elevator sales pitch goes out the window as you enter the portals of digital marketing and people are suddenly forced to slow down and increase their attention span.
Like, where is the lift now? There is this enforced social distancing and nobody except doctors and nurses is leading a hectic and stressful life, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital marketing vs Traditional marketing: It is not as if traditional marketing has no relevance anymore in India.
Traditional marketing for generic products effectively uses hoardings, paper advertisements, and TV ads. TV and radio have the widest reach in that TV can reach about a billion households and TV advertisement is not expensive. Radios have a 65% reach throughout India. But the TV audience has developed the habit of switching channels when the ads are on. It’s going to take a great effort to revive entertainment and sports ad revenue from TV broadcasting rights. And who listens to radio anymore. The FM channel isn’t very hot either so far as advertisement revenue goes. In spite of deep penetration, traditional marketing is not capable of personalized marketing or targeted marketing and that is where digital marketing scores over it. The ad cost, therefore, is less and the budget comes down sharply Post-Covid19 it’s difficult to imagine the fate of newspaper advertisements as most businesses will focus on revival and survival rather than business growth. The newspaper has a reach of 465 mn households but its influence is dwindling fast as people are able to pick news trends all over the world on their cell phones as Twitter is a source of the latest trending news and events. Maybe direct response marketing is the way forward for newspapers and TV. In digital marketing, direct response marketing encourages the customer to take action by offering a free add-on for sharing email id and cellphone number CATT marketing funnel
Wealth = n ^ CATT
[n] Niche- Your success and wealth depend on the niche you choose. It also depends on the optimal mix of talent, passion, and the market for you to succeed
[C] Content- created in the form of posts, videos, lead magnets, and webinars can be useful in attracting people from your niche
[ T] Attention- Drive traffic to your website using SEO, Social media, paid ads, and referrals
[T] Trust- Build trust with your audience using tripwires, marketing automation and retargeting
Courtesy- www.digitaldeepak.com
Wealth creation depends on working the model
W= n ^ CATT consistently.
n, the niche has to be close to your heart, you must have a natural talent for it, you have to identify the market for it and be passionate about promoting and marketing it
You create content, draw attention to your product, and drive traffic to it, create trust with your audience, and close the transaction by natural sales.
Sales will occur if you create trust by you using personalized, targeted communication with your targeted audience.
Essentially this is the formula that you need to focus upon and practice to perfection and wealth creation will happen
Integrated digital marketing
Email marketing, SEO, paid advertisements, content marketing, Social media, sales, and conversions are silos that have to be integrated into a process or an engine that serves the content that you come up with on a regular basis.
This engine will drive the Wealth =n^CATT formula to create wealth as you motor along on the path of success in digital marketing.
Personal branding: Your product or service can be replicated or duplicated or even changed but if your product is known because you talk about it, write about it or post about it, you are effectively growing your personal brand.
Many CEOs are better known than their products like Elon Musk. Elon Musk can launch a new product or service or a new brand and investors and promoters will be keen to be associated, because of the personal brand called Elon Musk. Also, if you make the effort to build your personal brand you can easily become an influencer or brand ambassador for the companies and products that you create.
There is a downside to it as a personal brand can't be sold and investors will never invest in a personal brand.
Mass trust blueprint- When you are building a personal brand don't aim to be the number 1 brand.
Instead, be the only one by choosing to develop yourself as the best in a subcategory.
So, if you are good at affiliate marketing, there is no point in trying to become the best in the world, instead, you can try and become the best affiliate marketer in India. Developing your personal brand takes time. You
learn
implement
work to gain experience and make improvements
write blog posts about your work so that the case studies are consumed by the readers
consult with clients one on one
mentor a larger group so that it becomes cost-effective for the group of people
finally, a start-up company to benefit from your growing brand image.
To summarize,
The Law of marketing remains constant but the digital aspect is dynamic and keeps evolving. You need to understand and implement marketing and the digital part will be just a medium of your execution strategy.
Wealth = n ^ CATT is a formula you have to master component by component and execute it as per the integrated
digital marketing engine or system that has been explained
Finally, The link to the internship will be forwarded to those who give comments and feedback in the comments section. Did I say I was just kidding?... I lied...
