Entrepreneur Vs. Consumer mindset

I was browsing the WF when I came across a rant - one of many. This was a normal "blah blah blah" rant, but I skimmed it anyways, because even rants (or the response to a rant) can yield useful information.

Anyways the OP was ranting about a certain marketing tool and one of the members that responded suggested they "get out of the consumer mindset". That member also mentioned that they see a lot of people trying to break into IM while retaining that consumer mindset.

First I would like to point out that the OP was not exactly in a consumer type mindset but more of a "the world revolves around me!" mindset, which many customers do have.

But I feel that it is important to develop a new mindset (the entrepreneur mindset) but still retain the old (the consumer mindset, not the egocentric one).

I have found throughout life that it is important to keep an open mind and attempt to see issues from various viewpoints. I have observed members (successful and unsuccessful marketeers, both) who talk about using marketing methods that others might find intrusive or belligerent (namely, customers). I think that this is because they only have one viewpoint, not several.

Lets use a widely talked about method that some swear by while others swear at.

The Exit Popup (or w/e you call it) is used to ask customers if they are SURE that they want to leave the page and abandoned this ONCE IN A LIFETIME offer that WILL NEVER BE OFFERED TO YOU AGAIN. The ad usually goes on to suggest that IT WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS and did they mention ITS YOUR LAST CHANCE?

I. Hate. It. Abso-freaking-lutly. To me this method is right up there with those sketchy websites that disable your back button. I look at websites as virtual stores, and if you went into a store, looked about then went to leave and the store owner blocks your path and asks if your sure you want to leave, you probably would consider it to be wayyy out of line (This is a metaphor by the way, don't comment on it). I will never use this method because I consider it to be wholly intrusive, and it turns me off to any offer ever made by that site or author again.

Now, you might say that the above paragraph is me in the consumer mindset, and you would be right. I decided this when I first started learning and was visiting any and every website to learn how other IMers did their thing.

So after a little while I came across a thread boasting about conversion rates after adding an exit ad. So I looked into it a bit, and supposedly it works quite well depending on what your selling.

But I thought about it. I weighed the pro's and the con's. I looked at it as a business man, and I looked at it as a customer interested in buying. As a business man it offered better conversions (supposedly), but as a consumer I figured it was too intrusive.

I still do not like exit ads, but could I really have said I made a decision based upon one mindset (i.e. the consumer mindset)? This was a simple example, but it can be applied to other things. What are you doing to increase sales? How do you and other people feel about it from a consumer point of view? Is it intrusive? Annoying? Immoral? And vice versa, you might personally like something someone else did and attempt to impliment it, but it might not be seen as useful or profitable to your entrepreneur mindset.

So round yourself out a bit and develop several different mindsets, it will benefit you in most aspects of life.