Posted on: 21 November, 2001
Author: Bob McElwain
Many new to the Web dream of building a ... ... It's not uncommon to find these ... putting upcash for a ... ... that "sounds" good. They mayeven try a couple m Many new to the Web dream of building a successful onlinebusiness. It's not uncommon to find these newcomers putting upcash for a "business opportunity" that "sounds" good. They mayeven try a couple more before coming to realize these programsearn money only for those they bought from. Next, they may buy into a package containing a strategy forgrowing a particular online business. And some such programs doprovide what is needed. Yet failure is more likely than success. Why Success Eludes Many A common cause of failure comes from a lack of understandingabout what it takes to do much of anything. LEARNING isrequired. There's WORK to be done. And you'll need to SELLsuccessfully. These are "stop" words for many. They feel they know enoughnow that further learning should not be required. They are notkeen on work. And the idea of selling is somehow abhorrent. "Learn," "work," and "sell" stop such people dead in theirtracks. Success is denied, online and offline. Yet the essence of any business is selling. And there's work to be done behind the scenes to keep the businessoperating smoothly. What's more, there is a continuing flow ofthings to be learned in order to keep up with the times and aheadof your competition.A Different Look At Selling Selling is what business is all about. Profits come onlyfrom sales. Without an effective sales effort, profits will notamount to much. But you may be looking at this word in a limited way. Selling doesn't necessarily mean stalking the Ford showroom floor or peddling encyclopedias door to door. Think about most things you buy. How are they "sold" to you? Often indirectly. Here's an example.How Your Local Hardware Store Sells Like Crazy After entering the store, chances are you wander about,checking out this and that, collect a few items, then pay andleave. Just exactly who "sold" you anything? And how did theydo so? Simple. The store owner has stocked his shelves with theproducts you and his other customers need. And he's gone to somelength to make it easy for you to find what you are looking for. What he's done is "offer" you the products he is selling. One more element is required, but it can hardly be calledselling. If you can't figure which of two pipe wrenches to buy, aclerk will be happy to explain the difference between them so you can make an informed decision. This isn't a salesperson inaction. This is a representative of the store owner helping youmake the best choice. The success of some online businesses depends upon a verystrong sales presentation which may be most of the site content. However, many online businesses operate in much the same manneras your local hardware store. You can do the same.Selling Online It is common to "display" products with words, and often withpictures. Details of all kinds are available on a click. Andthere's contact details if more information is needed. This is not selling in the classical sense of the word. Itis simply a matter of making your products available to those whowant them. Then providing whatever other information might beneeded. And helping as possible with tricky buy decisions. Selling a new gadget to make cooking easier that people havenever heard about takes direct selling. But stick with productspeople want and understand, and they will need only theinformation you provide to make the buy decision.Learning Is A Lifelong Task Many people have learning mixed up with what was expected ofthem during their school days. Everybody was supposed to learnthe same thing in the same amount of time. Which is nonsense,for we are not all the same. For those who did not rank high come grade day, learning became associated with lack of success at least, if not failure. But it's different now. There's no teacher hounding you. No curriculum. If you love stereo speakers, dig into the details and find how Speaker A differs from Speaker B. Then share it with your customers. Charts and tables may be the extent of your "sales pitch." This is learning. And except for keeping up with changes inthe area in which you are doing business, this may be all that'srequired.So Who Wants To Work? Hardly anybody. But we do. And while it is work to set up a system to automate purchases on a website, there surely is notmuch required to sustain it. In your online business, you may have to deal with deliveryin some manner. This is work. Pretty dull and boring for themost part. Then you have to handle off-the-wall requests fromcustomers. And, of course, complaints. Such tasks are not fun;they're work.Run The Red Light Don't let such words stop you. Run right through them. > Learn what you need to know as you go along. > Sell yourself, your site and products in a positive,understated manner. > Work as required to build and sustain a site that bringshome profits. If you are not prepared to sell and to learn new things asthey come along, then forget about building any business, onlineor offline. As for work, it's hard to figure a way to avoid it. It'swhat puts food on the table. The reasonable options amount toworking for somebody else. Or for yourself. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com