To be an expert, you need to follow the 10,000 hour rule… but I have been sleeping for the past 20 years, yet I’m no expert at sleeping. Hence, the keyword we are missing is “deliberate practice.”
10,000 hours of deliberate practice is the name of the game.
In the marketing world, it is awfully distracting to stay deliberate with practice given that there are a lot of platforms to divide your time, money and energy on.
This post provides just a few recommendations that I believe would provide massive value if done right.
1. Talk to the experts
If you feel that internet marketing rockstars such as Neil Patel, Noah Kagan or Pat Flynn are not within your reach to talk to personally, the very least you can try to do is:
1) Read, learn and apply the advice they give out on their blog and see what sticks.
2) After the experience, crafted a well thought out question, find different ways and means to contact them with providing value in mind (you giving them something too.)
3) If all else fails, just talk to anyone else you know who have done what you are doing and are one step ahead of you. It is still highly valuable nonetheless (it could potentially cut your learning curve in half.)
2. Read recent case studies
Case studies are the best resource as they are field tested information (ak.a. information based on actual real life campaigns).
Read, learn from it and apply it to your site.
Most marketing blogs such as Majestic or Moz would have case studies on SEO.
Watch out case studies provided by growth hackers as well.
3. Look for innovative stuff (be one step ahead)
Here’s a great piece of advice from internet marketer Neil Patel:
“If a small subset of people REALLY love it (in this case, inforgraphics) in the beginning, chances are — it will fly with the masses, given enough time.”
One of the ways to look out for upcoming trends is a tool called BuzzSumo. It mainly ranks content by social metrics (shares, likes, engagement).
4. Look at your data / analytics
Instead of just looking at what that does work, look to data that indicates what is not working.
On-site tools such as Qualaroo can be used to ask questions if the person spends longer than 15 or 30 minutes on the website (this is a good way to get valuable feedback from people who take the time to read what you have to say.)
When looking at analytics, ask yourself: ”What would it look like if it were simple?”
For example, what would improving click through rate look like if it were simple?
Answer – Improve the copy. Write attractive headlines.
What would improving bounce rate look like if it were simple?
Answer – Write amazing content that is what they are looking for. No misleading headlines.
In a nutshell, you can put yourself on a path to be a better marketer by:
1) Talking to experts / learn from them
2) Reading case studies
3) Be on the lookout for the next big marketing vehicle (right now, it is Facebook Ads and Instagram influencers)
4) Take a hard look at hard data and ask “what would the solution look like if it were simple?”
