To become a successful marketer using the Internet, you don’t need to know all that much about your basic tool. Much like a motorist, who does not need to know all the ins and outs of how a car’s engine works, the Internet Marketer does not need to know all the ins and outs of how their computer works.
However, the driver who knows the basics of how his or her car engine works and what everyday attention the vehicle should have, will, in the vast majority of cases, be a superior driver to somebody who hasn’t got a clue of what goes on under the “bonnet”. Known by you Yanks as the “hood”.
Although it is not an exact parallel, it is similarly the case that an online marketer who knows, not so much about how his or her computer works, but more about all of its capabilities, will be a better and more efficient online marketer than somebody who struggles with, or does not know about, all of the basic abilities of their computer.
My father was a primary school teacher, as was Mum later in her life after me, and then my second sister, who is five years younger than me did not need constant supervision. Both parents encouraged my education. Before I went to elementary school I could count to one thousand, tell the time, and read simple words. Knowing the basics, I was able to keep ahead of my classmates in nearly all areas, throughout my elementary and primary schooling until the age of ten.
When I was ten, Dad got his first post as a headmaster, in a small village school, the smallest school in the county. When he retired he was the headmaster of the largest primary school in the county, but that’s another story. For the last three years of my primary school life, Dad was my teacher both during the day and outside school hours. This, together with my understanding of the basics, learned at home and during my earlier school days, meant that I was able to pass an exam, which enabled me to go to a Senior Secondary school in a larger town shortly before my thirteenth birthday.
We spent five years living in the country. For the first three years, I was taught by Dad, although I always called him “Sir” when in school, and then I spent two years taking a bus to and from “Airdrie Academy”, before we moved to Airdrie, after the small population of our village dwindled which meant that it no longer warranted a school of its own
I really enjoyed my time living in the country. I only had three or four friends, some a little older than me, and some a little younger, However, we were very close and we had a great time together. There was plenty of space, including a large ashy area behind the school. I had become addicted to sports, and after Dad had given me the “terrible” news that “No, with my disabilities, I was never going to be able to be a professional football player” (soccer to you Yanks). Fighting back tears I asked what sport I could take up and become good enough to be reasonably competitive with others.
“Golf,” he replied. “Once you reach a reasonable standard, it has a very good handicapping system, which means that anybody can win just by being better than you averagely are. You’ve got to master the basics first, though”.
To cut a long story short, an uncle gave me an old, cut-down wooden-shafted golf club, Dad gave me about twenty second-hand golf balls, and I spent the rest of my time living in the country going up and down the ashy area behind the school hitting dustbins placed about a hundred and fifty yards apart. While doing this, I made frequent visits to the library in Airdrie and read from cover to cover every book they had covering the basics of the golf swing.
After we moved to Airdrie, Dad bought me a half-set of proper clubs and I joined the local club. I first went round in under a hundred when I was sixteen, and by the age of twenty-one my handicap was down to eighteen, and I won my first trophy. The main reason that I succeeded in my quest to become a competitive golfer was not my constant practice on an ashy plot of land, but my constant reading of books covering the basics of a good grip and swing.
So, what basic computer-related basics should we aspiring Internet Marketing entrepreneurs master before we concentrate on our chosen strategy to make money online? Here’s a short list, which is certainly not comprehensive. My current plan is to write one more blog post comparing the problems I encountered in my everyday life with the problems all online marketers face while building their businesses. That blog will take us up to when I left Secondary school. After that, I propose to write several blog posts explaining in some detail each of the basic subjects listed below. If you feel that you cannot wait for my blogs to understand a pressing problem that you may have, I suggest that you search YouTube for a training video on the subject you are interested in.
Now that I have completed these blog posts I have altered my Blogs Menu so that they appear first in that menu. If you would like me to add any more subjects to this list, make a suggestion in the comments below and I will add it or them to the list and write a blog post(s) about it or them in the weeks to come and add it or them to my first list of blogs. Click on the link to access the blog post.
- Efficient Use Of Your Hard Drive, Using Partitions, Folders, And Files
- Basic Mouse Functions And Keyboard Shortcuts
- Uploading Files To, And Downloading Files From The Internet
- Taskbar, Start Menu, And Control Panel
- Using Search Engines, ChatGPT, And YouTube, To Find Answers To Many Of Your Problems
Cheers
Phil
Phil, thanks for this it’s a very important topic. I like the way you use your analogy of improving and learning golf over the years to using a computer if I understood it correctly. You’re quite right we don’t need to know exactly how the car works, but if we understand the tyres and how they operate and how they work at different temperatures. If we understand the noises we hear under the hood as well as its handling we will be much better drivers. We will be able to see and predict problems before they happen. And I think it’s the same with affiliate marketing. We have to start somewhere as we build up our skills if we learn a little bit more each day will become experts and able to point our ship in the right direction as well as help others. Thank you so much. By the way my parents were teachers too. Thanks until next time Atif
Thanks, Atif,
When I started writing the post, I intended to go into the details of the basics at the end. But when I got to that point, I realized that I could write a book on the subject, so I decided to turn the details into a series of future blog posts. However, so far you are the only one who has commented on this blog, so I’m beginning to think that other people are disappointed that I didn’t go into more details and explanations of the basic things I was referring to. I’d appreciate a further comment from you on that point.
Cheers
Phil
Phil, I don’t think you need to worry about anything. I don’t think it’s a case of people not being interested in your blog. To be honest I think it’s because yours was probably one of the last that got published since Saturday and what that means is, it’s right at the bottom of the list. And because everyone’s been spending quite a few days on it, they’re probably just tired and done as many as they could. You could find that a few more reply but you could in the Facebook group just say that you’ve replied to X number and can they please do the same. The other thing is have you checked your comment section in WordPress and approved and moderated responses . If you haven’t there will be comments waiting there before they display . I hope that helps . Take care Atif
Atif Perwiz recently posted…Why should you be an Affiliate Marketer?
Thanks, Afif, only 1 more comment was received.
Cheers
Phil
Awesome this is an important reminder, I feel like I was always rushing before and would want to skip ahead without fully understanding. I am striving now to take my time and savor each step.
Eleanor Hope recently posted…A Winning Combo: Coaching+Training+System
Thanks Eleanor,
Look out for my series of blogs explaining various basic things you should know about how to operate your computer effectively, to get the most efficient use out of it. Hopefully, these blogs will start the week after next.
Cheers
Phil
Hi Phil,
Your determination is admirable and an inspiration to all of us.
I love the story about how you won your first golf trophy and became a competitive golfer. It reinforces the importance of the fundamentals and it is so relevant to almost every area of life.
Regarding what other topics you can blog about, I think image is something that many beginners struggle with.
Like how to resize image (image dimension as well as image file size) and why it is important. What software to use for images, especially free options.
And maybe also talk about alt text etc.
Alan Lim recently posted…Are You Losing Affiliate Sales Without Realizing It?
Thanks, Alan,
There are many things that I am going to write about in my next five blog posts. I know what the first one will be about, but I’ll add your suggestion to my list for later ones.
Cheers
Phil