Internet Marketing Plan

Review by Lyndon Cerejo:

The second edition of Kim Bayne’s “The Internet Marketing Plan” builds on the structure of the earlier edition, and packs more punch, with updated examples, additional subsections and content more relevant to the Internet marketing scenario today. Just as traditional marketing needs a comprehensive marketing plan to succeed, The Internet Marketing Plan shows how a company’s online marketing effort can be successful if it is a result of a well thought out Internet marketing plan. The book along with the accompanying CD-ROM containing templates, spreadsheets, skeletal outlines, and website bookmarks make it an excellent starting point for a newbie in the Internet Marketing business, but it still remains a handy resource for practicing Net marketers. The book helps the reader create and implement an Internet marketing plan, and measure the results. A step-by-step process helps the reader create a well-structured Internet marketing plan – right from the business overview, to budgets and implementation. Due emphasis is laid on integrating the Internet into the traditional marketing efforts – an often ignored effort of Internet marketing.

Review by :

I thought the 2nd edition would be more high level, as well as include RFP templates etc. However, the book is still very basic and really only appropriate for those with little to no knowledge of web site development and promotion. That should be made clearer in the desciption.

Review by :

One could rewrite the book on half the pages- just take out the outdated references, the self-centered self-apraisals of the author plus the party-dialogues. Then- after you reduced the webpages listings to those that still exist and took out some of the too basic checklists- you might have a tool worthwhile spending $ 15 for. I was somewhat surprised that such reputable publisher would put its name behind such a book.

Review by :

The book needs serious updating being that it was written some time ago, and the Internet changes rapidly. However, if you would like to know what the Internet was like back in 1986, and are ready to base a marketing plan on this then the book’s for you! I ordered this book hoping to find quantitative information and in depth advice on approaching the Internet from marketing stand point. It was hard to scrape the pages to come up with anything of use. A basic marketing plan outline, a beginners guide to the internet, and some common sense will bring you a lot further than this book. Some of the links in the bookmark file did not work. If you’re online reading this, you basicaly have no use for the book!

Review by Peter Arnold:

It’s the BIBLE for Online Marketers!

This is available in both eBook and Hard Copy versions – I read the (6-Phase / 12-Chapter / 245-page) eBook.

ECONOMIC CRISIS – with our (global) economy in grave condition as I write this – and with JOB losses soaring – more and more people are searching for alternative ways to generate more reliable income sources. Add to this, the power of the INTERNET, and a potential solution emerges.

HOME BUSINESS – As a Financial Advisor, Business Consultant and Home Biz Coach – I see employees, professionals and small business owners everywhere liking the idea of running an Online business from home – IF they can get the ‘right’ education plus the necessary marketing skills.

And thus, the world of Internet Marketing tied to running a profitable Online Home Biz — enter this new book – - –

MASTERING NICHE MARKETING – this gives enormous value to the reader – both beginner and experienced. It’s release is also perfect timing, given the economy. This book truly under-promises and over-delivers. It takes you step-by-step through the whole process of developing a marketing niche. It’s the most detailed, comprehensive and exceptional guide to creating and marketing a product Online that I’ve ever seen or read – bar none. The author removes all the guesswork.

In my opinion, this book gives the reader (the potential Online business entrepreneur) a wonderful “foundation” for pursuing a successful Online business from home. There are far too many “failures” in this industry – because of not being able to ‘find’ the right niche – or because of the lack of (or poor) training — this book can change all that as I see it.

ERIC VAN DER HOPE – its author, has high credentials behind him. Perhaps more importantly, he gives a list of his mentors at the beginning, including Ted Nichols, Anthony Robbins, Joe Sugarman, Mark Joyner, (the late) Corey Rudi, Shawn Casey, Frank Kern, Mike Litman + many, many other top marketers – a formidable mastermind group.

Some observations…

NICHE MARKET – Eric defines this as “a small but potentially profitable market segment for which it is possible to design and provide a form of custom-made product or specialized service.” It involves ‘targeting a group’ using information about their specific preferences, which might be a group interested in – exotic vacations – real estate – tennis – gardening, etc.

NO BULL – he ‘tells it like it is’ in terms of becoming successful with running any Online business — that there IS a huge market out there where good profits CAN be made — but, that you’ll need MONEY to do it — that you’ll need to take ACTION — that there’s intense COMPETITION — that you’ll need to intelligently ‘identify’ your market, etc. This approach impressed me.

SPECIFICS – he goes into extraordinary detail with – “Finding the Niche” — Creating the Product” — “Developing the Offer” — “9 Effective Business Models” — “Top 10 Niche Sourcing Methods” — Case Studies — Explicit Pictures, Screenshots, Graphs, Diagrams, Charts, etc. Amazing.

VIRTUAL STOREFRONT – you’ll learn of the requirements for your Online biz (choosing Domain names, FTP accounts, Autoresponders, Merchant accounts, Hosting, Video, Audio, etc + Upselling [back-end products], Advertising, Keywords, Social Media Marketing, Testing, Traffic generation – on and on. These are only tip of the iceberg.

BLOGGING – this is the ‘only’ part (Section 2.9) where I have a tiny disagreement with the author Since developing a BLOG (for profit) can be of tremendous value in these times (as a business by itself) – and whereas he suggests using FREE Blogging platforms (like WordPress.com and/or Blogger.com) – I (personally) strongly recommend using a platform where “you” have the full control. The Free versions give you only limited scope, and they can even be “shut down” on you. The ones where ‘you’ provide the hosting are far superior in my opinion. I’m referring to WordPress.ORG (not the “.com” Free version). WordPress.ORG – although a little more complex – when it’s tied to a good hosting service (like Hostgator.com, or those listed on Eric’s page 91) – is considered the top Blog platform by most experts I believe.

ACTION STEPS – what I really liked was the way Eric ended each Phase with a set of specific Action Steps – designed to get you “in production” ASAP.

RESOURCES – he provides SO many links to great tools / systems / websites. This only expands an already rich book on the HOW TO of Internet Marketing. It removes the confusion, the overwhelm and the technical obstacles that hinder so many people that are eager to move forward in this challenging but worthwhile and potentially lucrative industry.

All in all, a magnificant contribution to the world of Internet Marketing.

My thanks to the author for this timely masterpiece – it’s a classic.

Without question, I give this a full “5-STAR” rating.

Sincerely,

Peter Arnold, CLU, CFC / Founder

Business Achievers Academy / Canada

Review by Drew Laughlin:

This book is one of the absolute best books I’ve read in the Internet Marketing niche for a very, very long time. No matter if you’re just starting out or have years of experience, this book will help you make money online.

This book is literally an A-Z guide covering all the details you need to run a successful online business. I’ve used several of the techniques and tactics in my own business. But what I loved most was there are little gold nuggets sprinkled throughout that I never even thought about before. I’ll be implementing those ideas immediately to make even more money. I highly recommend this book.

Review by Tom R:

I got this book because I have been struggling to grow an online community for the last year. I’ve found that the technology is pretty straight forward. However, few books speak to three essentials: 1) delivering benefits and wealth to community members, 2) sources of revenue for the community developer besides advertising, and 3) how to actually grow the community. David Silver’s book deals very well with the first two only. That’s why it is only rated 4 stars.

Anyone who is attempting to improve their social network or to start a new online community will benefit from David Silver’s book The Social Network Business Plan: 18 Strategies That Will Create Great Wealth.

Don’t be turned off by the title. This is not a book about technology. Instead it deals with the issues and challenges that need to be addressed to build and maintain successful online social networks from the perspective of an investor. “Wealth” is broadly defined not only in monetary terms, but also in user benefits from helping companies and government to provide better products and services.

My Review From The Trenches

My review is through the lens of someone who is trying mightily to build an online home remodeling community, Millennial Living, using the content management software platform Drupal. Besides maintaining the site, I spend time thinking about ways to grow the community and produce content. Since time is precious, I am always trying to learn more about social networks at the least cost. David Silver’s book helped a lot.

How To Read This Book

First read the book from cover to cover. It’s especially important not to skip the Introduction. I did and I was totally lost in Chapter 1. The introduction spells out the author’s philosophy and defines important concepts like “recommender websites” and communities.

Silver defines “wealth” in two ways. The first is from the perspective of an investor. This might trouble those who run or are contemplating building a non-profit online community. Don’t let it bother you. The reality is that we all have to make a living, and the expertise and effort to create value and benefits for the members of a community takes money.

There is a second aspect of wealth creation, according to Silver. This wealth is the benefit members receive from achieving the fundamental goals of the network, besides fellowship and social interaction. For example, companies that rely on the community for business and don’t have to advertise can pass part of their savings to members. In addition, vendors would be able to design and offer better services and products by understanding the needs of the community. I found this compelling and especially relevant to why many of us are so interested in social networks. In my case, it is to reduce and ultimately eliminate the pain from remodeling and decorating.

What’s Good About The Book

The book’s approach to launching and sustaining social networks is to get away from the advertising model that so many social networks use today. Think Facebook and MySpace and perhaps your own community if you use Google Adsense. When I came across this passage, alarm bells sounded since I use Adsense on my site. Of course the 18 ways of generating revenue recommended in the book offered some alternatives and food for thought, but they take a lot more work than using Adsense. Social network sites, my own included, need to diversity their revenue streams to grow.

The most important aspect of the book deals with user-generated content. Silver advocates “slicing and dicing” anonymous user content that discusses products and services and creating reports for industry, companies and government. His reasoning appears sound, since most companies would prefer dealing with a specialized community over advertising to the masses. Personally I don’t see any harm in this as long as users are told up front that this will be done and how they would share in the benefits.

Chapter 4 is an important chapter. It provides three great examples of online communities that are relatively successful and are using many of the strategies Silver advocates. These companies include:

Sermo.com a community for physicians to discuss real live cases and other issues of concern with their colleagues.

Patientslikeme.com- a community that helps people deal with serious illnesses.

Hystersisters.com- a women only community for those who have had a hysterectomy or are contemplating one.

References to these websites are invaluable. They allow you to visualize how the strategies could be employed in your community.

The book also provides examples of social networking sites that could be started. This might be good to jump-start your brainstorming sessions if you are looking for ideas. In addition, the book provides proforma incomes statements that go with the communities. The financial statements give you a feel for what it takes in terms of effort and money to grow a community. Although the numbers should not be taken literally, you can get an idea of where your effort should be directed and what an investor’s expectations might be.

What The Book Lacks

The book assumes that there’s a need for the community to begin with and that you can get people to sign up as members. It is short on specifics on how to go about this, so you have to look elsewhere for this material. However, it assumes a great deal of effort in these areas specifically for SEO, membership recruitment, etc. The proforma incomes statements will give you an idea of how you might budget for this.

The book does not dwell on social networking software. It references commercial software offerings like Ning and Onesite. That’s a result of Silver’s inexperience with web stuff and the open source community, which he readily admits to. I am working on educating him about Drupal’s capabilities so I expect that in his next book, he will acknowledge Drupal.

There are times when the book departs from its central message of abandoning all advertising and relying on user-created content. It also assumes that people will pay a nominal fee to become members. This is definitely not my experience so far.

My bottom line: This book will help you get your arms around what you should be doing on the non-technical side to start or improve your social networking site.

Review by splendidmike:

Silver may know how to make money, but this book suffers from common how-to business book flaws: terrible writing, poor research, generalizing anecdotes into global truths, unverifiable claims, broad platitudes and self obsession (he actually suggests that you email him your business ideas – his email address is right in the book!). I could deal with all that, because I’ll grant that occasionally insightful nuggets appear throughout, but the title of the book does not represent what the book is actually about. There are not 18 strategies in this book, there is only one – the idea that you can build online social network sites around critiquing commercial goods and services and that data collected from that site can itself be sold. To me, that counts as 1 strategy, not 18.

Business is like anything else: if you practice, you get good at it. That doesn’t mean you understand what you’re doing and can explain it to others.