It happens too often. I run into a business owner who is really excited about putting up a website or ecommerce site because they’re going to make a bunch of money in the next few months. There still seems to be this notion about the Internet that if you build it, they will come. I’m not exactly sure where this idea came from, but it’s unfortunately not true.
Getting traffic and making money online takes a lot of time, hard work, and patience. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight. You have to put a lot of effort into building relationships, marketing your products, and creating something of value to your potential customers. Most people who have been successful online worked at it for at least a year. Many for much longer than that. There are always a few outliers, but they probably also used some type of resource they already had (money, connections, network, etc.) to get big faster.
Chris Brogan has a great video series on this topic with his Overnight Success series. If you think that Chris got to where he is overnight, you’re sadly mistaken. He gives some great insight into just how much work it takes and what his routines are like.
So, please give up the notion that you’re going to make a lot of money overnight by putting up a website or selling a product online. Most companies may do ok online, but it usually takes a lot of hard work and time. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make it big (online or off). There’s just no magic way to get there (unless you were born into it). Step up to the plate, take a few practice swings, and get ready to play hard like the rest of us.
(photo by smoorenburg @ Flickr CC)
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