Everybody starts here.
Every business you admire, every big-name blogger, every marketing hero started where you are right now.
“I don’t know enough yet.”
You don’t know enough about marketing. Or email lists. Or social media. Or blogging. Or you can’t figure out how to get WordPress working. Or you can’t face opening a Google+ account.
It feels like there are a million moving pieces, and you have to learn everything about all of them before you can move forward with your business.
Real business owners know that’s a lie
It’s not that you don’t need to know about content marketing and copywriting.
You do need some tools in your marketing toolbox — otherwise your business isn’t going to find customers, and you’ll go broke. Which is no fun.
We preach content marketing because it’s inexpensive, because it works, and because most independent small businesses can do it really well. (This is one area of marketing that most little guys can do much, much better than the typical giant mega-corp can.)
Learning the art of “just enough”
You could go out and get a PhD in marketing, and you still wouldn’t be an expert.
You’re never going to learn everything. You’re never going to master everything.
But every successful small business owner (including every solo practitioner who’s booked themselves solid) knows the art of “just enough” marketing.
Like almost everything else in life, you’ll get most of your results from just a few key techniques. Learn those, practice them reasonably well, and you’re off and running.
Can you spend the rest of your career perfecting your marketing? Can you add refinement after refinement to keep growing beyond your original goals?
Sure you can. Lots of people do. But you have to get moving first.
You need a map
I was looking at all of our recorded content in Third Tribe, and realized that while we had a ton of seminar information in Third Tribe (well over 40 hours, and that’s not counting the recordings of the Q&A sessions), it could be really intimidating to know where to start.
So I made a map. I created a simple, 20-minute overview of the essentials of a small, powerful content marketing plan.
This is how Copyblogger was built. And Problogger. And ChrisBrogan.com. And satisfying, profitable businesses like Teaching Sells and the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint.
And many thousands of other successful sites — the kind you might think you could never create.
They’re built a step at a time. If you never get moving, you’ll definitely never get there.
If you’re not a Triber, you can sketch out your own map
Get an envelope and turn it over. If your plan won’t fit on the back of an envelope, it’s going to be too complicated to put into place.
Write two words: Blog and Email List. Those are your first two building blocks.
Then take the lessons from Internet Marketing for Smart People and add another block or two. Or you might want to just start with those two for now.
Stick the envelope to a bulletin board or someplace you can see it every day.
As you take in education (like the Internet Marketing for Smart People course), add blocks to the back of your envelope.
You’ll need to get your market on there — Who do you serve? What do they want? How will you get to know them better?
And you’ll need an offer … something to offer your market in exchange for money. A product, a service.
Start small. Very small.
Sonia’s law of business
If you can take this as your mantra for 2012, you’re going to make a lot more progress than you did in 2011.
Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t work.
That might seem almost insultingly simple. But “keep it simple, sweetheart” will keep you moving forward.
Do you need some help with that?
Not everyone in this world was made to go it alone.
I wasn’t. I need partners and colleagues and mentors and friends. If it was just me, I truly think I would have quit a long time ago.
If you’re the type of entrepreneur who needs advice, education, encouragement, challenges, and a solid professional network to get to where you’re going … we built the Third Tribe for you.
We’ve priced it to make it easy to join. Implement one idea from the Tribe every month, and you’ll more than earn back the monthly fee. Much more.
Add one idea a month to the back of your envelope. Or start with the map we provide you in the Tribe (if you’re a member, you can find it here: Bringing it All Together: Connect the Dots and Grow Your Business.)
Learn just enough to get moving. Then keep adding one idea at a time to make it a little better.
You can do this. You’re smart and you’ve got the desire.
You just need a little focus and education, and a team to help you over the rough spots.
Join us inside the Third Tribe.
P.S.
No product is perfect, and no approach works for everyone. If you join the Tribe and discover it just isn’t your thing, don’t worry.
If you’re not blown away with the first 30 days of your Third Tribe experience, just let us know via the clearly-marked contact form in the member area. We’ll promptly send your initial fee back to you, and you’ll never be charged again.
And of course, you can leave the community at any time, and we promise not to whine, beg, or charge you again once you choose to go. We even make it easy to leave with a “cancel” link in your account area.
Stop letting “not knowing enough” be your excuse for not meeting your goals. You’re closer than you think you are.
Remember, open enrollment ENDS on Monday, June 18 at 8:00 PM Eastern (U.S.) Time. If you miss the deadline, you’ll need to wait until the next time we open for new members.