HOW TO GET THROUGH IT WITH GOLD

In September, 1830 the Right Honorable William Huskisson, M.P., a fast-rising English politician, turned up at the opening of the Manchester Railroad, to see The Future. Somehow, a man who many thought would end up Prime Minister, couldn't figure out how to get off the track, so that when the first train started towards him -- he stood there and got run over, thereby becoming the first well-known person to succumb to the dawning Railway Age. Predictably there was an uproar with hotter heads feeling sure that banning railroads was the only solution to such fatalities. The fact that Huskisson was notoriously near-sighted was lost sight of. The fact that the casualty was himself responsible for the result wasn't nearly as good copy as calling for a ban on the hottest transportation development of the 19th century. Hmmm. It all looks familiar to me, as daily more members of the Chicken Little League cackle to high heaven that the e-commerce sky is falling. My, my how they cluck. But you know, two centuries from now the Internet will still be here, working its wonders, just as (the last time I checked) there were trains. The real issue is keeping your head while all about you people are losing theirs. Hence these recommendations on how you can profit in the current uncertain Web environment and position yourself for the absolutely certain future profit to come. Recommendation #1: You're Going To Have To Work Hard To Achieve Online Success Far too many people on the Internet still have the crazy idea that success online is inevitable, effortless, thoughtless, casual. It's not. Far from it. Because the Internet is a new environment, it demands extra attention and more work than you'd have to perform if, say, you opened a standard retail shop. Thus, you must make how to succeed online a subject of continual study. The 'net is still, after all, to a considerable degree a trial and error environment. That's good for people who like to use their wits to solve problems; not so good for people whose goal is to perfect their skills as Couch Potatoes. The people who will succeed in the next phase will be, to a person, energetic go-getters, thinkers, and experimenters. The Internet is a gigantic laboratory, where millions of people are trying this and that. The people who approach the task as WORK and not a day in the park, are the ones who stand the best chance of success. Frankly, I'm appaled by the habits of most Internet "marketers" and "business people." Probably because such well-publicized success came to a few online marketers so early (usually through inflated stock prices), the idea took root that all you had to do was turn-up to grab your own brass ring. This comfortable idea, so in tune with the prevailing "Take it easy" culture that most people find so appealing, is slow to die. But if YOU want success, you've got to kill it, root and branch. Can you do it? Recommendation #2: Get The Tools You Need The sad fact is that millions of people are trying to profit online without having the tools they need to do so. It's nuts! These tools include * your own domain, so you have your own property to develop * a listserver, so you can send unlimited non-spam email to your prospects, customers and subscribers * a sales manager, so you can follow up all your leads personally, automatically * professional website design * guaranteed traffic devices. Without these absolutely must-have elements, you're toast. Take a look at the tools you're working with now. Have you got each and one of the ones you need? Or are you just fooling yourself? The people who make it to the next phase of online profit will have these tools, no ifs, ands, or buts. The ones who don't will get the Huskisson Award for worst response to new technology. Recommendation #3: Focus On Value As I've said often enough, lots of what people are trying to profit from online is stuff nobody will ever need. In a word, they're trying to get rich selling junk. Friend, it ain't gonna happen. If you want to make money online, you must offer VALUE online. Do you? Now I realize that people have an unlimited ability to delude themselves about what they're doing, so it may take you a while to be honest with yourself about what you're selling. But PLEASE try! Ask yourself these key questions: * Do people really need what you're selling? * Is the price fair? * Can they get it elsewhere for less? * Are you offering VALUE, or are you just trying to make a big score off junk, so you can loll on a beach somewhere? Caveat emptor! The companies which succeed online are the companies which offer online value. There's no future for you unless you offer value, too. Recommendation #4: Learn how to write and present customer-center copy The Internet is a communications medium. For business people it's a sales medium. That's it. There ain't no more. Thus, you must learn how to present the VALUE you sell in a way that's appealing, motivating, exciting to the maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time and space. This is both an art and a science. Problem is, far too many online sellers know nothing about human motivation and how to select and manipulate the words which get people to MOVE. Sadly, you're probably one of them. How do you move people online? The answer is found in four simple words YOU GET BENEFIT NOW! People don't want to make you rich. They want to make themselves better off. Thus, they want benefits and they want them NOW! Your job is to present your value in such a way that people easily understand just what you've got for them. These benefits must be simply, effectively presented in words and pictures; the overall design of your website needs to accentuate the positive and get people to LOOK AT what you've got and STAY long enough to respond. Can you do this? Again, I say: probably not! This key to online success then means either that you must study hard to achieve these skills. Or you must hire professionals who can deliver these results for you. It's one or the other or both! Recommendation #5: Don't Get Distracted As William Huskisson proved, getting distracted can be fatal. Staying focused is vital. If Mr. Huskisson had just focused on getting off the track, he wouldn't have become a celebrated statistic. I trust the obvious moral sinks in with you! Every day, indeed virtually every hour of every day, I am assaulted with offers from people who assure me that if I will only stop what I'm doing and do what they recommend all the delights of an Islamic paradise will be open to me. I'm not tempted. You see, I've already got an online company that works. Why, in the words of the t.v. commercial, would anyone need another? The key to profiting is focus. Lots of people who read this report need to have that single word -- FOCUS -- posted where they can see it every minute of every day. Running around chasing the elusive dream of success isn't how success is achieved. Success comes about through unrelenting study, work, perfection of products and presentation, and FOCUS. Focus isn't easy. Not by a long shot. It's tiresome, tedious, often dull and sometimes excruciatingly boring to stay focused all the time. But, as Mr. Huskisson could testify, it certainly has its rewards. Indeed, without such focus the rewards will never be achieved. Never! Never! Never! Recommendation #6: Don't expect overnight success Because a handful of people in the early days of the Internet achieved spectacular success (only to see it evaporate so very soon), the idea got around that the 'net was an emporium where to wish was to have. Nothing could be further from the truth. Success online demands an arduous commitment to success. Sadly, in our "be cool, man" culture, millions do everything they can to avoid that commitment. Don't YOU make this mistake. Ask yourself this question: am I willing to do today the work that will ensure the success of my online enterprise in a year, three years, five years from now? Or am I nothing more than a gambler, throwing the dice, hoping, expecting, needing to win NOW because I'm not willing to do what's necessary to WIN SURE? If that's you, there's absolutely no online success -- or probably any other success -- in your future. Last Words The great age of online wealth is before us. More and more people will study the medium and learn what it takes to succeed. The results promise to be spectacular. The question is not whether the Internet will flourish but whether you will flourish on the Internet. Or will you adopt either one of these futile positions? Will you, like William Huskisson, get unfocused and go down because you didn't bother to learn what you need to do and when you need to do it? Or will you, like the people responding to this freak accident, draw the conclusion that because one person failed to act properly, the medium is at fault and should be damned forever? Neither of these responses is correct. What is correct is hunkering down for the long haul and doing what's necessary to use the glorious benefits and economies of the Web to profit, now and for years to come. But, friend, WILL YOU DO IT?