So Tell Me Where Do I start?

The world of social media networks, attracting traffic, building trust, website, blog, captures is like stepping into a gym for the first time.

You stare at all the gear and you're wondering, "where do I start?" You can feel the chill because you haven't warmed up. You don't want to look like a newbie, so you take a deep breath, push your chest out, tighten those abs. And walk like someone who knows what they doing and where they're going.

Yes, I'm talking from experience, hahaha.

You see the leg press machine, so you head over and test it out. Someone watches you from the corner of their eye and instead of doing the sensible thing - you add more weights than you should. Oh, you can lift it but what the watcher doesn't know, is it's pure agony for you after the first 4 reps.

You step off the leg press and pretend you are so fine. Yeah baby, you are doing great man! You walk to the next machine and try it out. You do a bit more and then step off the machine to try another one. You keep going for half an hour and have a shower, to later arrive home.

Your heroism of adding more weights and running before you can walk is visible. If you was like me, then your wife will be laughing her head off because you now walk like an old geezer. You can't even move your arms never mind make a cup of tea. Yes, even making a cuppa tea was sheer agony.

That's what happens when we don't warm up and learn the basics first.

The Momentumn Goes Dry
For the first month, you are just testing. The next month, you lose your enthusiasm because though your testing, you know you can get better result. You also know, that you don't know what the heck you are doing. You know quiet a few things are out of balance. Yes, you're juggling like a clown but without an audience.

Yeah, I remember those days when I was pulling the hair I had left and figure out why isn't it working for me. Hahahaha. It was juggling different things at the same time, KNOWING they'll all fall very soon, and I will end up doing the same things over again. Things I knew I shouldn't be doing or need to do more of.

May I share something that isn't new?

None of the top expert marketing guru's who started for the first time EVER knew what they were doing.. That's what so many forget. They are human like you and me.

You wise up. You knock on the office window of the gym instructor and ask for help. He or she asks what help you want and so, they design a program. With it, they hand you a book. And explicitley say:

"Read the book and start from chapter one, and apply that chapter till you see how it works. Get familiar with it, test this out. Make sure you warm up. Keep in touch and be comitted to your health and future. I can't build your body for you!"

The Next Day At The Gym
So you take the book and your excited. You go home read that chapter and prepare.

Stepping into the gym, you start warming up but a guy comes along and hands you a bodybuilding magazine. You put it aside and thank them and begin warming up. Another person gives you some more information and says, "check this link out online."

You thank them and begin training on the machines. The moment you have done your first set for your biceps, another dude comes along and chats to you of the science of body building. He gives you a few pages of what he found.

By the time you've finished through the week, you have a table full of ebooks, magazines, links to look at. And you don't apply the first chapter the instructor has said for you to check out, apply, test out and see what works until you master it.

The Butterfly Effect
So now, through the months, you test out this and test out that, and play around with this and buy a magazine on that. You got books after books you haven't read. You got the "secrets" coming out of your ears. You move from one gym to another because you think you will find the secret technique of SEO and haven't learnt to do a press release yet.

You move so far away from the chapter the instructor has mentioned to read, and three months down the line, your mind is about to blow up with so many theories.

Your mind is full of this concepts and that concept, to science, techniques, skills, the diverse articles of what the secret is to grow your body fast. But you haven't started on that first chapter of the book, the instructor gave you.

The Frustrations Sets In
6 months down the line or less, you are so frustrated. You don't see a lot of change. Just a little but not enough to make impact in your life. You wonder where you went wrong and that's when you go to the instructor and say.....again..."where do I start?"

He or she sits you down, asks what you have done, what you need help in. The instructor has seen what you have done, so many times in the thousands of people before you. They again, write a new program, then ask you to take the book out. They ask if you read it and you say,

"Well, erm, no." They're not surprised because they've been there too.

They put a paper in that first chapter with instructions and ask you to read that first chapter, apply it, master it and then move to the next one.

This cycle happens and goes on for some people until they switch off the computer, realise the secret is themselves. Light at the end of the tunnel at last! Why? Because they ask an important question.

And the question is....

What Do The People Want?
First the book, Buildng On A Budget says, "Change your Mind Set. From poverty and lack of, to abundance and prosperity." Faith my friend. Faith in you is needed because the result you want is going to take some work.

I know, sometimes doubt will try to catch you but have faith ok. Do the work, follow, duplicate, and be disciplined. Make the decision to wake up in the morning early with tasks already prepared the days before. This is your future, it is what you want, right? Then let us do this seriously and really go for it.

There is nothing wrong with you. You have what every leader has when they started. Maybe, even more now because systems in place. Books after books. Examples of capture pages, thank you pages. Take a look, and click on the advert here. See which one captures you and ask, "why?"

Yes, I had to change and it wasn't easy. Though I was already tough in mindset with discipline, what got me at first was a lot of noise, hype, information until I stopped to THINK. Read the books, Plan and Act consistently.

So what I share now, isn't aiming at you. Actually, I am re-educating myself as I share with you. That is the beauty of giving. The more you yourself give, the more you really give to yourself too. It is like an affirmation happening everyday without you knowing it.

 The next question to ask is - what do "People Want?"

Not, "how do I get more traffic." The answer is, "what do people want!"

Ever read a book called Acres of Diamond? Read it because it will blow your mind at the wealth ready at your feet but many don't see because they are asking the wrong questions.

So ask, "what do people in your niche or market, or community want?" Don't second guess this my friend. Find out. It will push aside a lot of wasted time and distractions.

Create a capture page to provide information to help people with what they want. Solving some of their problems.

That can be a capture page, with a free ebook, or audios, or videos. Even a CD and they just pay for the delivery. You can also add below the CDs you are selling to, for them to have a choice. That way it will filter out those who may not be interested at all. Test these pages out and see what works for the people you are aiming at. What really works for you and gets results you want.

Be creative. Be honest. Be transparent and please, be yourself.

Trust and Relationship Or Hard Sell
They in return will give you their name, email address and telephone number to...sell. Right?

No, to continue to build relationship and send emails of valuable contents they need. That way they grow to know who you are, find out more of where you're coming from, and trust you. The first stage of branding yourself.

Now, you learn in that chapter and others, how to create an advert and place it where your target market is. You test it out to find out where, how, and what works. You continue to fine tune.

You also write press releases and consistent with it. You keep doing it, and learn to write a brillaint copy that suddenly works to bring your trageted traffic.

You continue to focus on just a few social marketing media networks and not run like a headless chicken to 20 different sites and forums. And you continue to see what people are asking.

You may know the solution, or find out, to help answer their questions. And when you do answer, make sure you have listened to their question and not answer, so your signature is shown. That alone will show through like a soar thumb!

You also learn to not spam because the moment you do, is the moment you are going to get burnt in the future. No one likes spammers. I mean no one. They are disliked and come second to the first on the list of those who design and create viruses. And spyware to get people to buy their products. They don't last that long.

Just One Simple Question
If you made an impact to just five people not thousands, just five - what do you think will happen? If you helped five people, didn't hard sell on them, or acted as though they owe some debt to read your email, and helped, what would happen?

These five people will spread the word. They would take your content and plaster it to people who are also looking for the answers to the questions they have been asking. They will vouch for you and their friends, their families, their companies will follow back to you.

The Bottom Line is - Building Relationship, Trust, Educate, Engage, Entertain. Charles Helfin talks a lot about these areas. Luckily, Ferny left a link somewhere which I followed. The articles I have read so far hit on powerful points that many need to read regarding the social media networks especially on which ones. Many just get drowned by the noise of hype to never even start.

So definitely check Charles Helfin Blog because it is spot on with what he is sharing. People like him are gold within our industry and there are many more out there, educating the masses.

Now, the question again - Where Do I start?
Have you tried the above before we can talk about SEO, Adwords, Google Science and LSI?

Adam Taha