Hi: Enjoy. Feel welcome to leave comments or feedback... especially the kind where your comments are longer than your sig file. *wink* Man, You Can Knock 10 Years Off the Learning Curve! 20 years ago, if you weren't born rich the best way to get rich was to become (or marry) a doctor or lawyer. That's where the money was. Fast forward to 2005. In the last 20 years, there has been a 75% turnover rate on the Forbes list. Internet millionaires like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Ballmer, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Jerry Yang, David Filo, Pierre Omidyar, and more, are knocking the traditionally wealthy off the charts. The Internet has created more millionaires, and more wealth, than any other technological change in history. So Why Are So Many Failing? Despite the vast global opportunity the Internet offers, most people are still failing at their online efforts. Why? Because here's a mindset, online, that you can shortcut your way to success. You don't need to know how to build a website. Or write copy. Or find traffic. That you don't need to pay someone to do those things for you, either. Just buy a push button solution or the secrets to success or a drag and drop website builder, or promote an affiliate code and it's a no brainer. Why does that mindset exist? Because of the vast number of profiteers promoting the notion that they can show you how to leapfrog the learning curve. Could you imagine a doctor having that mindset? Why spend 11 years becoming a doctor? Why not just get that push button surgery guide for $197 USD? It's delivered by FedEx and comes with a full unconditional 90 day money back guarantee! And what about that handy prescription suggestion tool? Is that cool, or what? Man, you can knock 10 years off the learning curve. Bizarre? Indeed. It doesn't work that way offline, and it doesn't work that way online, either, no matter what the profiteers tell you. There are five things you need to know if you want to succeed online. --> 1) Who is your target market?
If you think your target market is, "Well golly gee, pretty much everyone," then you don't know your own target market. --> 2) What is your industry advantage?
Sometimed dubbed USP, your industry advantage is the reason people would buy from you instead of from someone else selling the same thing you sell. If you don't know why people should buy from you, how on earth is anyone else supposed to? --> 3) How will you promote?
If you don't know exactly how and where to reach your target market... you probably aren't, and you probably won't. --> 4) When will they buy?
Statistically, less than one in a thousand people will buy on their very first visit. If you don't know what conversion rate is, or how to measure it, or how to improve it, you need to learn - if you're ever going to earn. --> 5) Where will you present what you offer?
Whether it's a blog or a website, you need a web presence that says you are serious and you are not a rank amateur. According to a Consumer Web Watch survery, the #1 criteria that consumers use to judge credibility is website design. On the Internet, you seldom get a second chance to make a good first impression. One of the strange ironies of the Internet is that most of the profiteers promoting push button solutions have, themselves, followed the five steps above. Maybe it's time you did, too?

Right on Linda, Great article. Online business in principle is not different than offline business. Internet allows us just for faster delivery of information and broader reach. All the 5 points you have listed apply to any kind of business and should be followed religiously. Bogdan

Linda, Yes, I agree with everything you have listed and I would like to add a couple of more points to this list. 6. How are you going reach your target range? NOTE: Method of advertisement to reach your target range 7. How much are you willing to spend - to be able to reach that desire target? NOTE: Planning and strategy / roadmap / grid showing where you are today and where you want to go and the direction you need to take to get there. If ya' have a moment - check out my blog and post your thoughts..... Just click on the word 'comment' located down at the bottom of the page. http://collinschatter.blogspot.com/ Your friend, Classic Corners "Nothing is impossible when you dream" The DreamTeam http://jcollins1.fggweb.com http://www.classicwebstore.com

Linda, This post hit a nerve for me, and I'm sure for others. Your question "Why Are So Many Failing?" has one answer...because the vast majority of us would-be's are rank amateurs. Everyone starts out that way, really. Many if not most of us would gladly pay for expertise, if we could figure out who the experts really are (and if we could get the money together, which is a whole other discussion). The internet itself clouds the picture. Anyone can claim to be an expert. How is an amateur to tell who has the real information? I have spent more than I should have on ebooks that purport to have the answers. Some were helpful, some started way above my head and assumed I knew the basics (I didn't). Some were simply hogwash. To answer my own questions, I've found Adland to be a great resource. Anyone with a little common sense can spot the real deal (you, for example). There's at least as much practical, detailed, real information here as there has been in most of the ebooks I've bought. And often the information here has clarified my understanding or given me the knowledge to apply what I've read elsewhere. Obviously, we should be leary of outrageous claims. I think it's human nature, though, to want a shortcut. I know I do. Especially when I look at what it really takes to begin to make a real income on the internet. It's overwhelming! Nevertheless, as you point out, anything worth doing is worth doing right (that is what you said, isn't it? So, everybody stop whining and get to work. As we say in my industry, those next five years are going to pass by no matter what you do. Are you going to use them, or will you still be in the same situation, complaining about the same things, at the end of them? Cheri PS, It's never too late to start! ;-)

Hi Bogdan; ===================== Online business in principle is not different than offline business. Internet allows us just for faster delivery of information and broader reach. ===================== That's it - exactly! Thanks for the thumbs up... it's nice to see. : ) Linda P.S. Look for a personal mssg from me. That which we emailed about is almost ready for you...