Bridging the Gap between Failure and Success
As my business 'morphs' to another level, I sat down to think about what it took for that change to happen and I came up with a couple of things from my experience.
When I first started out it was ALL about the money. I didn't have a clue about how doing business online worked and that was only because I hadn't spent much time online prior to starting my own business as an internet marketer.
Having worked in the automotive business for more than twenty years and helped increase revenues for various companies in the parts and service departments, the thought of how to build a business online was completely foreign to me.
Now having spent almost two years online and taking the time to learn the 'culture of the internet' I came to realize that doing business online is very much like doing business offline.
It all comes down to providing value in the marketplace. It's one thing to copy business models and all that, but in the end... what is it that would compel another individual to invest in what you have to offer?
O.k. so there's competition... big deal. The reason why there's competition is because there is a ton of money out there and the opportunity is only increasing especially when you consider the growing amount of consumers that are migrating to the internet to buy stuff.
There used to be a place in Queens (New York) we called "the pit". This place was filled with automotive repair shops and body shops. It used to look like a big hodge podge of 'car stuff' and we used to wonder how those guys made any money, cluttered altogether like that, but the fact is...everybody made money, because they had all developed their own personal client base.
What was real interesting was how they all worked together day in and day out for years. There businesses survived and thrived because they helped one another, yeah sure you might get one 'boat rocker' every now and then, but they made sure that noone was going to sink the ship.
Which brings me to a very important point that I would like to share with you.
Ask for help. In this big bad world of online business, there is this mindset of tight-fistedness (look it up, I just added it... smarty) Despite the fact that you and I have developed a certain level of comfort with regards to making purchases online, there is still an unseen level of tentativeness when dealing with one another.
The only way to get from where you are to where you want to be is to ask for help.
The caveat to asking for help is to be willing to accept, the good, the bad and the ugly, when it comes to responses. I remember not too long ago, I would ask for help and have different reactions to different responses.
Of course I'd be tickled pink when someone gave a glowing and positive response, and then I'd 'bristle' when someone gave a not so flattering point of view. However, you've got to ask yourself one question:
"Would I rather have someone rip apart and tear down my campaign in a forum or watch my business get torn down and ripped apart by refunds and negative feedback?"
In the end it's just business but it all goes back to providing value and asking for help to achieve the appropriate level of value that compels your visitors to spend their hard earned cash on your brand.
This forum is an excellent place to get real world responses to your marketing efforts, because after all you are marketing to people in the real world and the closer you can come to providing offers that present real value in your prospects minds the closer you will come to bridging the gap between failure and success.
Wishing you the best of success in the very near future,
Nando
Professional Appointment Setter