Ready for an online presence? Get real.

If you build it, they will not come.

This just in (9 years ago), the days of seeing success simply from having a website are over.

Of course, just like anything, there are those amazing stories – kind of like Internet fairy tales.

Facebook is a favorite fairy tale. A college kid created Facebook. Without a huge marketing campaign, it completely caught on.

Marketers, college students, stay at home moms, and everyone in between are now clamoring to get on Facebook.

Not another story about Facebook.

Yes, the story of Facebook has been told more times than any of us care to remember. So why bring it up again?

Because while we’re all familiar with it, we sometimes forget one important thing:
It’s news.

It’s a story of wild success that’s not typical of how business and marketing work on the Internet. As this article details, the Facebook story is more like a movie script.

What we often overlook is what’s typical about Facebook’s success.
It didn’t happen overnight.

It started just for college students. Then anyone was allowed to join. Then came fan pages for businesses. Finally, application upon application began popping up.

How were these additions decided? Facebook didn’t just jump in and start creating. They listened.

By listening to their own community, they were able to determine what was a good idea and what wasn’t. Then, they added to the site over time.

It’s not glamorous, but it’s real.

This point – listening – is much less glamorous than the exciting tale of Facebook’s start and success. As marketers, it’s a much more important point, though.

Instead of referencing the fairy tales and wild success that can come from Internet marketing, remember to get real.

Take, for instance, social media marketing for your business. When you’re ready to put yourself out there, consider what you’re doing first. And while you’re doing it, don’t forget to think like a real person, and not like a business owner or marketer already completely invested in a product.

Would you engage with your business online?

• Are the things you’re asking of your customers or potential customers things you can see yourself doing?
• Would you discuss the same questions with your customers or potential customers offline?
• Is the same conversation you want to have already happening? Is someone already doing what you’re thinking of doing?
  (Give your customers some credit – if you’ve seen it work, they have, too.)

As Internet marketers, of course, we like to think there’s magic, excitement, and glamour to what we do, but these things are just the icing on the cake when creating a successful online presence.

We need to get real first.

The magic can’t happen without the less magical pieces – planning, research, strategy, listening…and yes, hard work and time.