|
Business Online, Fact Or Fiction
by Kim Skinner
Lately, I've been in e-mail correspondence with a very new online marketer.
I've been helping him on the subject of autoresponders.
Today, he made a comment that really made me think. He wrote that he'd been
to a couple of computer stores to talk to the "experts". When he mentioned
the word "autoresponder", all he got was a blank look.
"Wow," I thought. "Deja Vu!". The very same thing happened to me over a year
ago. I drove 15 miles, through Southern CA traffic no less, to visit a computing
store who claimed to carry "thousands and thousands of software titles."
Not only did they have nothing in the way of autoresponders, but can you
believe when I asked them about "Search Engine Submission" software, they
asked, "What is a search engine?" This is an absolutely true story. I know!
I couldn't believe it either.
This is not the only time this has happened. Now that my new online friend
got me thinking, I'm realizing that it happens all the time.
And I'll bet many of you are in the same position. I know that since my online
business has become such a large part of my life, I tend to talk about it
with family and friends. Most of my friends aren't online, but two are. They
are the only ones who have ever really asked me "What EXACTLY do you do?"
But, the question is always asked with perplexity, as though they couldn't
ever fathom the idea that anyone can sit at a computer, in their home, and
earn a living. And when I start to explain, I either get a glazed expression,
or the nod of the head with a patronizing smile, "Oh. Sounds good."
You MUST know the smug look I'm talking about. The one that says, "Yeah,
yeah. Eventually you'll come back to reality and get a job like the rest
of us." Whenever someone asks me what I do, sometimes I hesitate before
answering. "I own an Interent business." Once in a great while, someone shows
some interest. The same way they'd show interest if you told them that your
dog could talk, but interest nevertheless.
However, more often than not, I know I being looked at with skepticism. And
this skepticism is born of ignorance. Ignorance about the Internet, and where
it's going.
I'm so conditioned to this, that I never go to my local computer store for
information pertaining to my business. I turn to the web. And I read, and
absorb, and teach myself. What other choice do I have? Business on the Internet
is almost a taboo subject, offline. No one talks about it.
I know this sounds contradictory to all the other information you've read.
"10,000 new people log on every day!"
"The number of people online doubles every month!"
"Yahoo! recieves 1000's of page submissions daily."
"60,000,000 Internet users, worldwide!"
Where ARE all these people? Are they hiding?
They sure don't live near ME. I've looked, and I can't find anyone offline
who can talk to me intelligently about E-Commerce.
You may be wondering, by now, what my point is. Maybe I really don't have
one. I'm just trying to give you a little motivation. Offer a thought that
will lift your spirits when your business isn't going as you'd hoped.
I know that some days, hits will be low at my site, or very few orders will
come in, and I start to panic. My imagination goes wild, and I start thinking
"Maybe I've reached everyone I can. Maybe I'll NEVER get another order! I've
just been living in a fantasy land!"
In my more rational times, I know this isn't true. But, no more than at this
moment. That I can't find anyone in the real world, who knows as much about
the Internet as I do, is a testament to the fact that the web is still in
it's infancy. It's so exciting to think that it can only get bigger and better.
We are truly pioneers. We have a vision. Don't let anyone get you down, or
make you think you are unrealistic in your quest for a successful online
business. Those of us who are here, working our tails off, learning as much
as we can as fast as we can....we are ahead of our time. Don't let anyone
tell you different.
Remember....no one believed Christopher Columbus, either.
*****************************************************
Kim Skinner
AdvertisingTips.Net
http://www.advertisingtips.net/article.htm
You can subscribe to Kim's e-zine, Answers,
by sending any e-mail to
answers-on@mail-list.com
All new subscribers receive 2 FREE GIFTS! |