I am certainly not an expert and my background is probably the exact opposite, but I read and tried enough over the past couple of years to learn some of the basics.

So we've gone through things like ideal customer, market research, target market focus, diffrantiaion and positioning, pricing, lead generation , lead conversion, contant followup, last minute and other "deals", pricing experiments, many site experiments (inclduing images, videos, title etc) 

None of these things have made a hugh differnce and progress is still slow and steady. 

One of the books I am reading now is called "Lateral thinking" and bascilly discusses the difference between our "vertical" (usuall) way of thinking, which is used in mathmatcis, logic and many day to day activities. 

It follows a path, building on things that are validates and dropping options that will not get you to where you need to get.

To the other way "laterla" which is about making more options, opening possibilities, trying different things and even following the "wrong" path - or no path at all - to get to a desired state.

If we apply these to marketing, that means there is way forward that can be tested, improved upon and finally get you the results you want.

But I get a feeling that with marketing (and advertising) there is really no clear path but many alternative solutions that one or more "might" be hold the answer.

Or perhaps there is no solution at all? 

It's funny it reminds me of something Seth Godin said about the Beurue of Great ideas. I'll paste the section here:

"They think that if their idea is good enough, or if they tell the right person, they will automatically be rewarded with a prize for having such a good idea. This just doesn't happen. There is no bureau to submit your idea. There is no 10 point score for ideas where if you get a 10, you somehow profit. You need to do something. It is only in doing something that we find success."