In the online marketing world, a lot of people are offering step-by-step guides and plug-and-play blueprints. While this might sound attractive, it can actually hurt your business in the long run. Instead of looking for a simple 1-2-3 process, it’s better to recognize that building a business requires real work.

In some ways, marketing and business building is a step-by-step process. We could talk about the steps you have to take, such as starting by identifying your market problem, thinking about what’s the solution, doing a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), doing marketing research, creating a perfect offer, and creating a winning sales experience.

But here’s the problem with calling it a step-by-step plan: there’s a lot of judgment that goes into building a business. You have to make a lot of critical decisions and use discernment. Business isn’t just about replicating what works for someone else.

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Why You Shouldn’t Call Online Marketing A Step-by-Step Process

Each stage in building and marketing a business is complex and requires you to engage in a lot of critical thinking and testing. The problem with calling it step-by-step is that this gives the impression that there is an exact process and all you’ve got to do is follow the steps and that’s it.

But building and marketing a business is not like that.

Building an online business is like trying to make a living as a professional poker player. Everybody’s going to be different. Each game will work differently. Other elements will also come into play, and you don’t have all the information you need to make decisions.

Similarly, when you’re building an online business, you’re not going to have all the information. You can’t simply know everything, so you’ll have to act based on the amount of information that you have.

Plug-and-play advice doesn’t work because even if you have a similar audience, there will be differences. Audiences will react differently and have different mindsets. Your market competition will also be different.

You Have To Understand The Why Behind The Process

When it comes to marketing and building your business, it’s important to understand what it is that you’re doing and the why behind the process. When you take ownership and understand those things, then you’re in a position to benefit from a framework that has a step-by-step process. 

If you’re helping others with their business, don’t create a plug-and-play or step-by-step guide just because it’s what people want. Trying to simplify the process with templates is a disservice because you need to tell your people that they’re going to have to learn certain things, build up their judgment and ability to discern what’s right, and make judgments on their own.

Ultimately, the only way you’re going to be successful as a marketer is if you’re willing to learn the fundamentals of business. Learning those principles will help you apply your expertise and skill set as a marketer to your particular situation.

Learn and Take Ownership

Again, the step-by-step process in online marketing is simply a promise that people are making. But that’s not what will prompt actions. You need to take ownership of easy buttons and recognize that you have to learn this stuff so that you can figure things out for yourself.

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