There are so many spoof programs promoting the 'best marketing strategies' that it has become more of a joke than a real help. Many things we read about make out that one person can reasonably learn what is needed to achieve success and profits on the Internet. How many have actually done this, really? Lets be honest. From a general marketing / advertising / design background - it is blindingly obvious that to make a project work successfully, and for it to actually reach the target audience and be sustainable - many ingredients are required...or the project will be a long winded and messy affair leading nowhere and wasting a huge amount of time. Sound familiar? We need both sides. Create new concepts and Ideas, Fresh and Innovative Create high-end, professional graphics, quality Websites and Navigation Create 1st Class copy and marketing strategies. Target the right audience for the project Predict trends And the technical: SEO Web Dev Coding Affiliate networks Databases Adsense etc. etc. Is there anywhere that links up people with the 'techie' knowledge - to those with the 'creative / design / marketing knowledge'? Together, this is a lethal combination - and rarely appears in the 'internet marketing' scene which is plagued with appalling design, copy and lacking original ideas? If both are applied TOGETHER, then a very successful and serious project can be undertaken. Where can the creative skills (such as mentioned above - which my team specilizes in) be matched to the technical skills? Once these two areas have met and been applied to the Internet marketing, it will wipe the floor of what already exists. Any comments appreciated as its about time we did it properly. I am happy to give advise about the creative / design / advertsing side of things. Wish you all the best *m
Hi Clarity - I note this is your first post so welcome to DP. I think there are numerous examples of folks who manage to do quite well. The real issue is often not lack of skill, willingness or desire to do great things in all areas, but rather the lack of capitol to make it all come together. It is the well funded ventures that often are capable of pushing the envelope whereas often the smaller webmaster is relying on a smaller set of skills (his or her own).
Accessability - the internets blessing but also its curse. in short: the internet is full of crap you need to decide if what u read is of any relevance.
You mention technical, creative, advertising, and marketing. Of those 4 you can almost ignore technical (and I am a technical) and creative. Many of the most successful web sites were launched with very limited technical and creative. I know of some hugely successful sites that were made by some average programmers. There have been articles about ugly sites (del.icio.us, craigslist.com, google.com, plentyoffish.com, etc) doing extremely well while slick looking sites didn't fair as well. What matters most is the strategy behind the business.