There seems to be a common misconception with marketing on the internet that if you have 100,000 views, you are rolling in the bucks.

It isn’t true. “They think likes and views equal dollars and that’s not the case,” said author and internet marketing whiz Colleen Nichols.

That’s just one of the things Nichols addressed in her book “Don’t Make it Weird, The Entrepreneurs Guide to Being Human on the Internet,” that has recently climbed onto the bestseller list online and possibly for the print version that came out on Jan. 23.

“It’s about how to make a human connection with people,” Nichols said. For internet marketing, “if the product is good, it can be an organic thing,” she added. On Tik Tok and Instagram, everyone is trying to catch the “going viral” wave and it doesn’t always happen.

Nichols has family roots in Hayfield Farm and grew up in Fairfax County, graduating from Edison High School, Longwood University and then a master’s degree in mental health counseling at George Mason University. That’s where she started focusing on human behavior and has since started a company called “Digital Sales Growth Community,” in 2020. She’s been teaching women in sales for over 10 years.

At home she has three boys under the age of 10, so that keeps her pretty busy but she juggles all of it successfully. “I have an office in my house,” she said.

She just finished her first book this month which is available on Amazon, Kindle and Audible. In November she launched it on the pre-order market and got over 1,000 sales. “There’s very little overhead,” with her company, so few expenses are taken out.

Marketing is all about the person though, she says, and it’s comparable to buying a car. The loud, pushy guy on the lot may not last long. “They buy YOU first,” she said. “The days of in-person marketing events are over.”

"In ‘Don’t Make it Weird,’ Colleen teaches you how to bring your whole personality ― the messy, awkward, and mundane ― to your online presence to create true connection and community. And, of course, to sell to people without making it weird. Whatever it is you want to do ― you can. Just ‘Don’t Make it Weird,’" read the description on Amazon.

She's gotten a bunch of five-star reviews too. One mentioned having Nichols in as a guest speaker at their company got him to buy the book. 

"I could not put this book DOWN! It has changed the way I am going to show up on social media by helping me truly figure out who I am authentically," one review said. 

"She is able to give real life examples and scenarios, because she’s been there, done that, but without sounding like a know-it-all snob," said another.