So How Did I Get Here?

My name is John Pohly. I am an internet marketer. I can not believe that I am here.

In college, I studied finance and accounting. In the 1980’s and 1990’s I was taught to focus on my weaknesses. Believe it or not, math at one point in my life was my weakness. Now I can perform complex mathematical equations in my head.

My career path oddly enough had very little to do with math. A degree in Finance is the diploma that hangs on my wall – I am not passionate about it, but it looks nice. For some reason, most of the job opportunities that came to me were in direct sales. I was very good at it. First I sold computers in Austin, TX and then I sold houses in Dallas.

In 2003, I read a book called Discover Your Sales Strengths. The book went against my high school and college programming. It introduced the radical idea that I should focus on my personality strengths rather than focus on my weaknesses.

Inside this book, was a personality test by the Gallup Poll organization. In no particular order, my five top strengths were the following: Focus, Strategic, Relator, Learner, Ideation. Since I started to build upon these strengths I have grown tremendously in the area of creative marketing with defined goals – usually increasing the bottom line.

I have heard that it is rare to be creative and analytical at the same time. To manage my time, I have found that I can not be both at the exact same time. I time block hours or days during the week to practice each discipline.

Over time I have learned that being too creative can hurt implementation of a marketing strategy. I took the scientific test again in 2007, this time in a book by the same Gallup authors, called Strengths Finder 2.0   My top 5 changed slightly: Focus, Strategic, Maximizer, Activator, Futuristic. I think my career path had something to do with this.

You see, as the housing industry started to decline in 2005 – I added a few new skills sets to help offset a shrinking real estate industry. In an effort to attract more leads for less money, I turned to the internet. To be successful on the internet, it does not take as much creativity as it does action.

It is not just internet traffic, but conversions. Successful internet marketing is taking action and analyzing the results. Ready, Fire, Aim. Measure Results. Tweak 1 or 2 Details. Ready, Fire, Aim…Again.

I turned to Seth Godin, a master of “attraction marketing” and also author of a best selling book with the same title. He was the first to explain the internet to me. As I write this article, I am looking at my bookcase. I have over 75 sales and marketing books in my collection. Here are my top 20 influencers in the order that I read them:

Attraction Marketing by Godin

PyroMarketing by Stielstra

Endless Referrals by Burg

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Keller

Browsers to Buyers by Lyon

Riches in Niches by Friedman

Web Marketing for Dummies

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

Public Relations for Dummies

New Rules of Marketing and PR by Scott

Your Attention Please by Brown and Davis

POP! Stand Out in any Crowd by Horn

Presentation Mastery for Realtors by McKissack and Jeary

No B.S. Wealth Attraction for Entrepreneurs by Kennedy

Perfect Phrases for Sales and Marketing Copy by Callen

Perfect Phrases for Executive Presentations by Perlman

Microtrends by Mark J. Penn

Your Internet Cash Machine by Jillian Wheeler and Joe Vitale

Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords by Marshall Todd

The Adsense Cody by Comm

Click Here to Order by Comm

I credit the above authors and book title to my journey on the internet. Not every book is on the internet but more conceptual in business process.

The internet is a new frontier. It changes so fast, that books written on the subject can become outdated by the time they hit the shelf! Online, I followed Seth Godin starting in 2006 which was a great start for the big picture and benefit of attraction marketing. Starting in 2007, I enjoyed the Stompernet faculty and their teachings for search engine optimization. I follow Terry Dean and Jimmy D. Brown for setting up systems and processes that are proven to be effective. At the World Internet Summit earlier this year, I started following Joel Comm and started to learn the world of information marketing from to top 30 internet gurus.

I subscribe to newsletters and or coaching programs with Stompernet (The Net Effect), Terry Dean (MyInternetMarketingCoach.com), Jimmy D. Brown (Membernaire.com), and most recently Joel Comm’s TheTopOneNetwork. There are many gurus out there. At first I was overwhelmed as I was on the email list for over 30 internet gurus. I have learned to focus on just the teachings that are relevant to what I am doing right now.

On the internet, a little bit of daily action in a strategic plan is more important than a lot of creative marketing without a defined purpose with measurable results.

So here I am – a former computer salesperson, a former housing salesperson.

I am an internet marketer.