We all know that an online business can generate significant income with minimal input from the business owner. This is because so many processes can be automated on the Internet, thus eliminating the need for an individual to carry out these tasks.
However, no online business can generate a worthwhile income without at least some hard work—usually several months’ worth at the bare minimum.
I often refer to myself as a lazy Internet marketer because I know that there are many things I could be doing to improve my business, but I often prefer not to. My problem is that I can always find something better to do than work! But it wasn’t always this way. In the early years of my online career, I worked some serious hours to get things up and running—certainly a lot more than I had ever worked in any job.
As many of you know, my offline career was spent in the banking industry, meaning I was no computer expert and had no particular Internet skills or abilities. Therefore, I spent days reading and learning how to do the tasks I wanted to do – how to build a web page, integrate payment facilities, send customers emails after purchasing, etc. While now there seems to be an online video or eBook about almost all Internet marketing topics, going back a few years, this wasn’t the case, and I often only discovered how to do something by trial and error.
So why am I telling you this?
Well, quite simply because of an email exchange I had with someone this week, which made me realize how lazy some people can be and how they genuinely expect to have an online business handed to them on a plate.
This person purchased a product from me that came with resale rights – nothing unusual there. I then got an email from them asking how to get the sales page for the product online. Again, nothing unusual in that; it happens quite a lot. I answered the question, and there then followed what can only be described as a barrage of further questions asking how to set up a payment processor, how to deliver the product, how to integrate an autoresponder system into the processor (the buyer even asked what messages he should put in the autoresponder!), how to market the sales page and how to get the page into Google!
I have had similar requests, and it is simply impossible to answer all of these questions in a single email (quite apart from the fact that it would take me an age). I, therefore, answered some of the questions and referred the buyer to my forum and some other resources that I knew had the answers to the remaining questions (as well as a lot more free information).
So imagine my surprise when my response was basically along the lines of ‘You aren’t helping me here—I have step-by-step instructions as to how to do everything that I have asked you.’
The fact that I had provided links to resources that answered his questions was not enough. Apparently, he didn’t have the time to read through those resources and wanted me to summarize everything for him!
Now, bear in mind that this guy spent less than $50 with me, and you might begin to see where I am coming from. Does anyone really think that $50 buys several hours of one-on-one consulting with anyone? Why do people believe they shouldn’t put effort into building a business?
How can someone expect to generate a living online when they can’t even be bothered to spend a few hours learning to do some of the most basic tasks?
You might think that you don’t need to know how to do some of the things involved with running an online business if you can get someone else to do them (even if you have to pay them), but there is no substitute for knowing exactly how your business works from the ground up. If you follow step-by-step instructions from someone else, the chances are that you won’t be taking note of what is happening, you won’t make mistakes, and therefore, you won’t LEARN.
I have recently hired a web designer to build a new site for me. This is the first time I have ever done this, and it tfelt very weird at first. The site in question is quite technically complicated – not so much the actual pages but the scripting behind the scenes that makes it work. Now, while my new web designer is very knowledgeable and capable of doing exactly what I want, the fact that I have a good understanding of how scripts/databases, etc., work and how it is possible to get things to happen on a website means that both of our jobs have been a lot easier than they might have been. I could go to him and say, ‘I want it to do this, and I think the best way of doing it is …….’. I can’t write the required scripts or software, but I have a pretty good idea of the best way for someone else to write them. How did I build up this knowledge?
Simple. I sit in front of my computer for hours, work things out for myself, and learn. Remember, your online business is more important to you than anyone else. Regardless of how much someone tries to help you, if you want it to succeed, YOU are the one who needs to put the effort in.
