How Is Internet Marketing For Small Business Like Fly Fishing?

Have you ever experienced fly fishing? You’re out there by yourself standing in an ice cold stream with its dark blue water rushing by. The sun’s glittering reflection makes it impossible for you to see more than a few inches under the surface. A huge Bass may be only a few feet away but you’ll never see it – never even know it’s there waiting for you.

For hours you stand there casting into the shadows, bringing your fly rod back over your head – letting the line play out so that when you whip it forward the almost weightless fly at its end will drop precisely where you wanted it to land. Knowing that the fish are there you make this rhythmic cast again and again until a hungry fish leaps out of the water and grabs your fly in the air.

If this isn’t like Internet marketing for small business I don’t know what is.

Way back in 1964 Rock Hudson and Paula Prentis starred in a wonderful Internet marketing movie. The movie, “Man’s Favorite Sport” was about a fly fishing expert at Abercrombie and Fitch. He was an expert who had never actually fished, outside the confines of the show room where he deftly cast the fly across the room into a small wading pond.

He was like so many of the Internet marketing gurus we have around today. They talk the talk but they have never walked the walk. These are the Internet marketers whose reputations have caused us to think better about used car salesmen. Their tactics have turned so many small business owners off, no one wants to identify themselves as an Internet marketer, that few of you are taking advantage of the benefits of Internet marketing for small business.

Also, while they make it look easy for them, we all know that having the best technology is worthless if we don’t know how to use it. And that looking like you know what you are doing is less important than actually knowing – in Internet marketing for small business – just like Rock Hudson found out when he had to actually go into the woods and enter a fly fishing contest.

When it comes to fly fishing, if you want to be successful you have to fish where the fish are. When it comes to Internet marketing – success is all about doing the research. Who exactly do you want to reach? What precisely must they be looking for when the find your web site? And what specifically do you want them to do?

A flawed Internet marketing strategy that is executed poorly will always yield better results than an exceptionally well developed strategy delivered perfectly – if the person with the imperfect process has spent the time and energy to do the marketing research that will bring the right people to his site for the right reasons in the first place.

A successful fly fisherman knows that no matter how good they are at casting, no matter how amazing their colorful tiny fly, and no matter how exactly they know the location of the fish – it still takes hours of repetition, casting again and again and again if they want to catch their limit.

As the fish swim leisurely, just hanging out with their friends – looking up at the little fly flicking at the surface, some of them just ate, some of them are too tired, some of them have other things on their mind, who knows? One thing is sure – they are not all interested in the fly at any one time, but they will all be ready to take a grab at it eventually.

The key then is to be right there in easy reach when they are ready to take action. If your Internet marketing strategy means you send out emails once in a while, or you rely on people who visit your site to “buy now” – you are missing 99% of the opportunities.

Once you’ve attracted them to your site, you need to do something that captures them – so later on when they have elevated themselves from casual looker to actual prospect, you will be able to present your solution again. We can never expect anyone to return to our web site – so we’ve got to take advantage of the fact that they showed up at least once.

Those of us whose revenues come from our Internet marketing know that when we attract the right people for the right reasons we have done the hard part. At that point we want then to either buy what we’re selling, give us their permission to follow up with them later, or go away. That’s it – it’s that simple.

Fly fishing, I am told, is exciting because when the fish is ready – they jump out of the water and grab the fly. From that moment on it’s between the fish and the fisherman. The fish wants an opportunity to re-think their decision and the fisherman wants to get the fish in the net. Isn’t this like you converting a browser to a prospect to a customer?

When it comes to Internet marketing for small business, those who grab your offer will be those who are looking for what you’re selling and who have found your product/service/price/benefit equation compelling enough to grab it.

From that point on it’s between you and them to see if they drop into your net or swim away.

Now that they are on the hook you’re job is to reel them in as seamlessly as possible – making them happy and comfortable with the decision they’ve made today, tomorrow, and for years to come.

Successful business owners understand that small business Internet marketing is the most cost effective method for connecting with potential customers locally & globally. Learn more about Internet marketing for small business, visit Internet marketing explained for small businesses wanting to leverage the current success online. Join the discussion.