What does internet marketing have to do with Lent? Well, if you’re a Filipino internet marketer we hope you spent some time away from your computer during the Holy Week. You will learn a lot from other people in the process…
For example, one of the recurring themes on Good Friday is: Embrace the Pain.
For those of you who’ve seen the movie Beastly, the line was: Embrace the Suck.
When things don’t go your way, or when people let you down, please forgive them. It’s not their fault. They didn’t know what they were doing.
Instead, embrace the pain, because life’s like that.
In internet marketing, embrace the pain of having to write on a regular basis.
A lot of people do not like to write, because it takes too much effort. Or it exposes them to ridicule (paano kung mali ang English ko?).
But if you forge ahead and write, in spite of criticisms, in spite of the lonely months and years, and in spite of running out of ideas, your collection of articles online will be large enough to get noticed.
Another theme is: It is not the intensity of the suffering that counts, but the love underlying the suffering.
If you write 5 articles a day, that can feel like a torrent of suffering. But it will do you no good if your motivation for writing that much does not involve a genuine desire to help others.
Ask yourself this: Why do you even want to publish online?
Is it just to make money online? Or do you want to serve first, and earn later?
What else can you learn during the Holy Week? Well, you’ll sometimes hear Latin phrases from some Jesuits such as:
Non multa, sed multum. (Not many, but much.)
In other words: Not breadth, but depth.
Or in professional blogging-speak: Not many topics, but focused niche topics.
What is your blog about? What few topics do you focus on? Which geographic area are you targeting?
For example, Viloria.net is positioned as “Online Marketing Philippines” (please note the topic, plus the location).
To summarize the Lenten lessons for Internet Marketers:
1. Embrace the Pain.
2. Find the Love beneath the suffering.
3. Not Many, But Much.
So we hope this helps give you direction in your online marketing efforts. Find your passion and help others first. Discover your strengths and write about a few things that will truly help others succeed.
Then write more articles about those few topics.
Love others, and embrace the suffering. Not many, but much.
Here’s wishing you a belated Happy Easter! 🙂
