PANNING FOR GOLD OR SELLING SHOVELS? by Irina
FACT #1: As Internet retail sales more than double year
after year, experts agree that in the next ten years more
business will be done screen-to-screen than face-to-face.
FACT #2: According to the USA Today, the Internet is
responsible for creating more millionaires than any other
industry in history.
FACT #3: Over 95% of all Internet-based businesses never
saw any profit and majority of them haven't lived long
enough to celebrate their six-month anniversary.
Chances are that FACT #3 is more consistent with your
personal experience than the other two. Are you tired of
putting all your effort into your Internet-related
business, affiliate program, ezine, etc., yet getting
little or no results? Are you wondering what's the
difference between those who made it to the top and
everyone else? Is it luck, or they actually know something
rest of us don't?
Here are several suggestions on making your Internet
business experience just a little closer to FACT #1 and
FACT #2:
1. THE TREND IS OUR FRIEND. When we follow it, we make
money and when we try to buck the trend. we don't. Luckily
for us, the trends I am talking about are much easier to
see than the elusive stock market trends. For example, as
the massive (and wealthier than ever!) Baby Boom
generation continues to age, their needs reflect what is
wanted and needed in our society. Statistics shows that
their buying patterns reflect growth in five major areas:
* Health Care
* Investment Advice
* Technology
* Specialty Retail
* Entertainment
These five areas will dominate the buying patterns for the
next 15 to 20 years. If you sell anything, it better be
somehow related to health care.
2. SELL TO BUYERS. When we advertise on the Internet, we
are fiercely competing with thousands other businesses.
They all sound just as great (or terrible) for someone on
the other side of the computer screen. Why? Simply because
almost everyone who sees your or my Internet ad isn't
actually looking for what we have to offer. Like us, they
are trying to sell their own product, service or recruit
for their own program.
That's where the problem is. We are trying to sell to
sellers, and not buyers.
What we need to do first is offer something that all these
people are looking for. Something that will help them
promote their own business. Essentially, we need to start
selling shovels instead of (or at least in addition to)
panning for gold. The good news is that with the advent of
the Internet, those high demand "shovels" can be readily
available to everyone. See, for example,
http://0.web1000.com
3. OUR MINDSET CAN EITHER MAKE OR BREAK US. Way before we
learn about FTP uploads, file saving, HTML editors, niche
finding, advertising, list building, search engines,
affiliate marketing, joint ventures, etc., we should take
the time to get the right mindset.
One of the most common challenges is denying frustration.
Frustration can be a result of great many things, but
usually is caused by our unwarranted expectation that
running an online business is easy.
Like frustration, the challenge of not knowing who to
believe or where to turn can make us feel unsure of
ourselves. The seemingly endless products and services as
well as tales of greatness can make us seem lost with no
clear direction of what to do next.
Our mindset should be built around the following concepts:
* This is the only business that we can succeed even with
no special education and very little money
* Mistakes must be viewed as learning experiences,
analyzed and stored in our toolbox
*Crave and dissect lots of information
*Never give up
*Give to get
*Realize we are all in this together, there are people who
will help.
(C) by Irina 2003.
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About the Author: Irina helps people save money on
healthcare and create residual income working from home
http://www.megaone.com/hbb/savemoney/
==========================================================
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