Here Come the Mobile Marketing Experts

Bymayor

People are so predictable.

A new trend surfaces and there are those that immediately begin to capitalize on it.

Being on the lookout for “the next big thing” is fine. But what do you do when you discover it?

For some people, they engross themselves in the new thing and learn the ins and outs so they can speak from experience.

For others, it’s all a matter of discovering how they can position themselves as “experts” so they can profit from it.

In the online world, I’ve seen it happen a number of times.

As soon as word got out that you could make money with AdSense, the opportunists who never made a dime with AdSense began writing books and creating training courses.

When Facebook and Twitter became buzzwords the web became inundated with so-called “social media experts”, many of whom had never truly discovered how to leverage social media for their business. Of course, they were all too happy to sell you their products or coaching to help you do what they were unable to do for themselves.

Brace yourself. It’s happening again.

This time, the trend is in the mobile marketing niche.

I’m already seeing a number of products and training courses coming to market in the mobile marketing space. So far, I am very unimpressed.

I’ve had associates write and ask me to promote their mobile marketing ebooks, reports and training courses.

I usually ask them a simple question. “How have you made money in mobile marketing?”

Their reply is silence. Nothing but crickets.

That’s because they AREN’T making money with mobile marketing. They are positioning themselves as “mobile marketing experts” by training others how to do what they haven’t done themselves!

Beware, my friends. There is enough hype out there to choke an entire army of elephants.

If I present you with a product on AdSense it’s because I have actually gone before and can demonstrate how to make money with AdSense. I’m STILL making money with AdSense five years after releasing my first book on the topic.

If I tell you that you can use Twitter to grow your business its because I have done it, and continue to do it. I’m engaged with social media and am continually looking for new ways to connect with those in my network.

And if I show you how to use iPhone applications or mobile messaging to make more money or enhance your brand, it’s because I have already been there, done that. I’ve developed a number of iPhone applications, including a #1 best-seller. I’ve spent the last three years developing a mobile marketing platform that will bring great value to businesses.

So look out.

The parade of “mobile marketing experts” is coming to your town. Armed with little more than statistics and an opportunistic mindset, they are coming for your wallet.

It wouldn’t surprise me if their business cards had “social media expert” scratched out and “mobile marketing expert” written in its place.

Be alert and watch for this to happen. Make sure and ask yourself if the person marketing to you has credibility in the space. Look for real proof.

If you don’t find evidence of anything more than opportunism, be very careful.

Have you encountered this in your experience? Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

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74 Comments

  1. Thanks, again, for the heads up, Joel. Many have expressed valid pros & cons on this subject. Actually, mobile marketing has been around for quite some time, just that now, it’s becoming popular. My first exposure to it was over ten years ago. The Sprint PCS cell phone I had, at the time, was very basic & didn’t have a lot of features. Though they offered things like weather, news, sms, etc, etc, the price was ridiculously high. I found the same services, via MSN, for free. Within a month, I kept getting sms spam from Miss Cleo!!! Remember her? “…Call me now for your free tarot reading…”

  2. Thanks for the insight Joel. I have been wondering what all the hoopla is about. I get a bunch of emails for related products, but the income potential has always been too questionable for me to bother shifting my focus in that direction. I am constantly fighting the Next Shiny Object Syndrome, so I appreciate the straight skinny from a fellow Coloradan. Going up to Dead Guy Days this weekend?

  3. OK, Let me jump in here, because this topic is near and dear to my heart. I live in a city that has a rap for being “backwards and slow”. Businesses here are constantly trying to stay ahead of the big cities, or at least not be left in their dust. As an Internet marketer in this type of city, being able to offer our clients the “next big thing” is huge. So huge in fact, that I can see their eyes light up when we mention bringing SMS texting and mobile optimized web sites to their business!
    People want to be on the cutting edge. The problem is that you absolutely must do it right, or you will lose credibility – and in my market, that actually means lose your job!
    So, I believe, as someone mentioned, mobile marketing has to follow a specific plan. It must offer benefits that people are willing to subscribe to, without interrupting them with offers that the recipient will see as a huge waste of time. It must be cost-effective and it must must must bring customers to the business directly as a result of the marketing tactic being used.
    Now, bandwagons are a dime a dozen, but this one, as Joel points out, actually has merit. The caveat is not jumping on to a bandwagon that is full of promises and lacks the ability to deliver.
    I’d love to see a follow up to this thread that offers solutions, not just warnings. What system works, what is just hype, who actually can prove themselves before this actually happens?
    I think creating iPhone apps is brilliant. I know offering this to local businesses will get their attention. However, just like we can’t ignore Yahoo/Bing with SEO, we can’t ignore the other mobile phones! I think a system is needed that optimizes the use of the cell phone as a way of reaching customers… I am hoping we will find the right system, develop it and attract businesses to our company because we offer mobile marketing in addition to other excellent and important services! Another tool in the arsenal, another way to bring customers to our business, because we offer it and no one else does… yet!
    Thanks for this advice, Joel!!

  4. Too right mate! funny thing was I had an email from offer vault about a mobile marketing webniar then your email was right after it lol I didn’t watch the webinar and I totally agree with you. You need to explore these things yourself first to see if you can profit fromthem and if you see an area that you think mm i could improve something here with a bit of knowledge then have a look for the ifo not before.

  6. In late 1880’s and early 1900’s Cars came, Telephone’s,Electricity,TV, Radio’s Air planes and they improved to rockets to the moon came. In the late 1900’s came computer widened used and microwave stoves, cell phones…
    Marketing on mobile phone’s is coming.
    In 1993 I used Microsoft Office to give my presentation in class I was told to use any source possible to give my presentation.
    So I used the early Office to do it. Now the college charge to have a class in the use of Microsoft Office as a pre-request. So my point is you have to start some where as mention by
    Bonnie @ Ginger Beer Recipes
    These are pioneering days. Now when they become college classes and cost
    you 45,000 to over a hundred thousand to study them is where I have a problem, and after 4years of college the job you thought you were going to
    get is not there. Well maybe it would have been better to study that course
    from some guru pioneer for 1997.00 compared to the debit and cost some have paid. Look at the Fortune 500 list of Billionaires many are college drop outs ,some high school grad, some high school drop outs.
    What most of the people do is complain and yet they still do not take action in any form. Mr. Gates took action. Take some training, Do research
    on Google on mobile marketing, Right now I’m sure Joel is doing research on
    this blog. How should he come up with a product to sell related to mobile
    marketing or should he stay away from it. Cell phone marketing is already here my dentist use text marketing to tell me what new in his office for teeth whiting. People hate change, test cell phone marketing buy a Boost
    mobile phone test it out or any 50.00 a month pre-paid phone. As I said
    before read Who Moved My Cheese and see what character are you. I find a
    lot of the last character on this blog.
    Wrhump

  7. Funny how a self-proclaimed social media expert is talking smack against self-proclaimed mobile marketing experts.
    Pot..meet kettle…he is black.

  8. I agree with a lot of you and respectfully disagree with a few of some of your viewpoints. There’s no doubt mobile marketing is going to change the way businesses communicate with their customers, and in some ways local businesses and “mom-and-pop” shops will have even more leverage competing against the “big dogs”.
    I just hope it isn’t abused like email and end up resulting in having very little difference between the way we look at our junk-mail and our email in-boxes and be thrilled with a 2% return.
    Mobile has the potential to communicate directly (1 on 1) from business to consumer, consumer to business, and even passed along consumer to consumer.
    There are FIVE TIMES the amount of cell phones than there are computers being manufactured to keep up with demand. Next month there will be more text messages sent out than there are people on earth.
    Is there potential? of course….will text messages from businesses become like banner ads on websites? only time will tell, however I do think sitting on the sidelines will most definitely leave you in the dust.

  9. Well I’m not so sure I have a fancy schmancy phone and only use it for phoning. And truth is often I switch off because I don’t want to be disturbed. I’m still all for the internet. I know my blog and my podcast id phone friendly. My daughters boyfriend reads it from his phone but geez sometimes i want to switch off. Phone marketing gurus don’t impress me. I’ve got my favorite internet marketing gurus which amount to under 5 people and i stick with them, other wise I’ll get confused and befuddled.

  10. Mobile advertising certainly has a large number of eyes & ears for what you want to sell, but still there are certain products that will do better in different circumstances. You have to try it out to see if it’s right for your product.

  11. Hi everyone. I wanted to post a few points / facts
    1) Joel is correct our course is about LOCAL SEARCH + MOBILE
    2) My experience in mobile – I am also adding this to my sales page as per Joel’s suggestion – and here is my quote from my page:
    “Why Mobile? Why Now? Why Howie?
    I believe the time for Mobile Marketing is NOW. Local Businesses are DYING for new ways to reach out and touch their customers and build
    attention from new prospects.
    To answer a question on WHAT makes me qualified to train you on Mobile . . .
    This page is NOT about a half-baked concept or incomplete few weeks of training. We have been working on this coursework for the past
    4 months.
    Personally – I have been involved in the mobile space since 2000 (thats 10 years). I have invested in multiple mobile focused startups and spent
    2001 – 2004 working with small businesses on their business strategy and integrating mobile into their marketing plans.
    Mobile Marketing Leadership is based on my business experience well beyond the IM space :)”
    – end note –
    There ya go – just the facts 🙂
    (note: I’m NOT going to use Joel’s blog to answer support / product questions here – as its not the appropriate space. You can use the contact us form / link on the bottom of my sales page if you have a question for me)
    Thanks Joel – I appreciate the opportunity to reply on your blog.

  12. I agree that that every trend has its share of opportunists, and this is just the start of a big wave in mobile marketing. I like Joel’s qualifying question. If I’m buying something to help me make money, then I’d like to see the proof. However, in the case of an emerging market, I’d also like to see the passion and depth of research dedicated to the specific field I’m investing in.
    Technology is fast moving, but add regulatory agencies, and you have quicksand! The smart and nimble are the ones who are going to make it. I want to be able to get updates as soon as something changes, not just a stale,dead, sales letter, or a new ” next greatest thing” email campaign.
    I find that the true experts tend to stay true to their core passions. The various products and promotions are logical extensions of those passions.
    P.S. As a Canadian, it is frustrating to see the freedom most of the world has in mobile technology. Oh sure, we have it, but the gov’t backed rates are a killer.

  13. Hey Joel thanks for the post. I already received several emails from gurus telling me how I can get rich mobile marketing. You are right because lots of these people writing ecourses and books never really experience these trends themselves. They love confusing newbies. I’m in marketing so I understand who want to help me and who doesn’t. Thanks again.

  15. Wow, this whole concept is rather fascinating. Just searching for “sms marketing” produced some interesting results. There are a lot of companies that can market via ANY wireless source – including laptops & wireless capable desktops. SMS is only one option. Some companies have the ability to send full-fledged video ads (one-way & interactive). Even bluetooth can be exploited for “drive-by” advertising.

  17. “The Most Powerful Advertising Medium Ever Invented”
    The New York Times
    Mobile marketing offers unique targeting abilities that are incomparable to traditional promotion and advertising media and is capturing the attention of marketers worldwide.
    95% read rate (within seconds) and a 25% sales increase…
    Now That’s Powerful Marketing.

  19. Undoubtedly some people are making money with mobile marketing. I mean, *somebody* is buying all those apps. 😉
    One way to spot the smart mobile marketers is that their websites actually work on a mobile telephone, like say…. the iPhone, which takes up >90% of mobile web use.
    A really cool Flash effect is awesome – but when a mobile marketing “expert” sends me a link to a Flash page in a text message… it’s kind of hard to take them seriously.

  20. As a consultant for a major telecommunications company, I can tell you that mobile marketing is for real — but and this is a big but….you absolutely positively cannot alienate your customer. And trust me, you think you get spam complaints on your email campaigns? Just wait until you try a mobile campaign. My paid television service sends me an email message every day telling me what hots on that day. Do I read it? Hardly ever. Does it drive me crazy? Well, as my Dad used to say, that is just a short putt, but actually yes it does make me crazy. Every day I get the message, pick up my iPhone and casually look at it and hit ‘close’. I’m already getting a few IMers sending me stuff through Twitter that gets redirected to my cell – it is all getting to be too much. There will be a market for mobile marketing but it will mostly for local marketing and for large brand marketing from corporations we know and love….not from the person who has a new ebook to sell. Let’s save all of this for the Internet and let’s wait until a solid plan that doesn’t alienate comes out. But in the meantime, people have to be testing this so that some day a successful, needed product will come along an open this market up. But spend your money on a tried and true company who will do this for you with a guarantee, not a 12 week guru mega course that you’ll never get through anyway.
    Thanks for letting me voice my opinion.

  22. Joel,
    Okay… wow.
    So many negative comments.
    The experts also drive me crazy. When someone calls me saying “Would you like to set up a 1 on 1 phone call coaching sessions with {insert name here}? He can help you a lot.” I usually reply with “Sure, I’d love to be *HIS* coach!”
    I don’t quite have an hour to read all the comments here, but I’m guessing that no one that posted here so many months ago actually is a mobile expert.
    My experience with mobile started January 18, 2001 when I launched my first website that interacted with alpha pagers. The site is still live at http://www.nj-singles.com.
    Since then I have developed countless mobile technologies that used email to text messaging on cell phones. I even created my own mobile CMS some time in 2005.
    When the .mobi TLD became available I bought and launched several sites.
    The problem is that no body understood it. Even today people are still confused, and everyone is being bombarded with apps for their phone, LBS, check-ins… so much stuff that it’s very confusing sometimes even for me to understand what’s happening.
    I’m a 10+ experienced mobile expert. It’s my job to figure out how the next “big” mobile thing will benefit my clients.
    Personally, I wouldn’t trust any “mobile expert” either unless they carried around with them every mobile gadget and could demonstrate iron clad ways to use them. I practice what I preach since at all times I have carry an iPad, iPhone, Android and NetBook with me.

  23. Great article. However the bandwagon is never full and even when people get kicked off or jump off they have a knack of getting back on…I know from experience…uh Im on it…haha. Have I amde a dime yet…(melancholy look) no. Will I make money? Results: approached 10 business yesterday and have 3 appointments…will probably close 1…for how much? Check back next week:)

  24. The post starts with the words, People are so predictable. Then, to the left, I see this post, as good as few can be, receives so few tweets and likes.
    Does it mean most people don’t pay heed to Joel’s warning?
    I’m curious!

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