Ok, for those of you still waiting, the Internet won't go away. Hang up the hopes that it represents a passing fad sharing the fate of the Beanie or the Pet Rock. With legitimate high-tech stocks finally in the market, regular people doing "real" business online, and consumer acceptance to the point of purchasing movie tickets and homeowners insurance over the Internet, the Web is here to stay. However, many people still get that glassy-eyed, far away dreamer look on their faces when they think of the riches awaiting them on just the other side of their own dot-com. Well, whether your business represents a laptop on a TV tray in the basement, or a mega-corporation with offices all over the world, my last 7 years in the Wild West online has revealed a few "truths" which should last from here until the end of computers. ** There is no get-rich-quick! ** I guess it's in man's nature to desire instant wealth. Since the dawn of history, people threw common sense to the wind and went off in search of "buried treasure." Unfortunately, instead of discovering riches, most just ended up buried under a load of debt, misery and despair themselves. In the late 1990's we saw the modern day equivalent of a gold rush with high-tech stocks, dot-com companies, and investors who threw common sense to the wind. Well, we all know the result. ** The "Secret" to online business success! ** Would you like to know the real secret to making money online that will govern the Internet for all eternity? Here you go: Spend less than you make. That's right! Simple math creates millionaires on the Internet! Regardless of the market, size of your enterprise, or the nature of the product or service you sell, the people who make money online spend less than they make in revenue. The companies that make money are the ones who let someone with basic math skills run the advertising department! ** People don't buy refrigerators online! ** That's right, most people don't buy refrigerators online, but to look at the way some companies operate, you'd swear they did. Here's how people use the Web to buy a refrigerator (or any other major purchase): they go online, research different models and prices, look for a local store, go to the store, and buy one. Companies that use the web to make money (instead of wasting it by the bucket-load) understand the difference between closing the sale online and providing information that leads to making the sale at a physical location. ** The quick and the dead! ** People who buy online have little or no patience. They go online to get information NOW, or to place an order NOW, or to get their questions answered NOW! The online world is a "right NOW" world, where wait times get measured in seconds and people get mighty testy if their needs don't get met immediately. Speed, not size, determines the victor in e-commerce because the businesses that meet people's immediate expectations as quickly as possible (if not faster) ultimately win. |
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